Genetic diversity in Cola acuminata and Cola nitida using RAPD primers

Abstract

Cola species constitute an important non-timber forest product. Besides the food value, Cola is rich in numerous phytochemicals, making it more important for its use in both African traditional medicine and potentials in industrial pharmacopoeia. Knowledge about genetic diversity is essential for conservation. In this paper, we reported genetic variability of Cola acuminata and C. nitida germplasm across the Cola - producing states (the rain forest and derived savannah zones) in Nigeria using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Fifteen primers which gives an average of 6.5 bands per primer were selected for both species. C. acuminata exhibited a higher level of variation with 71.5% of the detected markers being polymorphic (223 polymorphic alleles), whereas C. nitida presented 58.3% variation with 182 polymorphicalleles. Inter-population differentiation was measured as Jaccard?s similarity coefficient. The mean similarity index amounted to 42.5% in C. acuminata and 46.7% in C. nitida respectively. Results reveal the genetic structure of both species and conservation strategies are suggested.