Full Length Research Paper

Assessment of genetic variation of selected spiderplant (Cleome gynandra L.) morphotypes from western Kenya

Francis B. O. K’Opondo¹*, Henk A. van Rheenen² and Reuben M. Muasya¹

¹Department of Seed, Crop and Horticultural Sciences, Moi University Eldoret, Kenya.

²Department of Biotechnology, Moi University Eldoret, Kenya.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: fbokopondo@yahoo.com Tel.: +254-0734824399.

Accepted 17 June, 2009

   Abstract

In the genetic variation study of the 4 spiderplant morphotypes, 10 out of the 12 primers screened generated 31 polymorphic bands. Nei’s coefficient of gene differentiation showed that the morphotypes were differentiated. Nei’s genetic identity value calculated from the RAPD data ranged from 0.3 to 0.6 indicating the degree of genetic identity between the morphotypes. Dendrograms constructed from a matrix calculated on the basis of UPGMA clustering algorithm revealed that the 4 morphotypes formed 3 groups.

Key words: Cleome gynandra, genetic variation, morphotypes, RAPD-PCR, spiderplant, western Kenya.