Abstract

Knowledge of genetic diversity is vital for genetic improvement and germplasm conservation. The genetic relationship of 28 Coffea arabica genotypes from Ethiopia was assessed using 10 Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) primer combinations. The level of polymorphism was 30.9% and 18 markers were unique to 10 genotypes. Pair-wise genetic similarity coefficients ranged from 0.851 to 0.982, AD1491 being the most divergent and AD5091 the most closely related to all genotypes. All genotypes were independently distinguished and did not cluster according to collection region, demonstrating the presence of coffee genetic resource diversity within each region. Results of this study will be utilised for germplasm collection, conservation as well as in variety development efforts.

Key words: Coffea arabica L., DNA-based markers, fingerprinting, genetic diversity.