An Assessment of Genetic Diversity Within a Collection of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) Germplasm Using Molecular Markers

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) cDNA clones were used to detect restriction fragment length polymorphisms in a collection of Manihot germplasm maintained as in vitro plants at ORSTOM, Montpellier. The collection consisted of mostly African cultivars of M. esculenta, together with a few M. glaziovii Mueller von Argau and M. caerulescens Pohl, and some interspecific hybrids between M. esculenta and M. glaziovii. The clones revealed significant levels of polymorphism both within and between the species; sufficient to construct dendrograms indicating the genetic diversity within the collection.