Browsing by Author "Neondo, Johnstone"

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    Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Doum Palm (Hyphaene compressa) Using Genotyping by Sequencing
    (Frontiers, 2022-02) Omire, Agnes; Neondo, Johnstone; Budambula, Nancy; Wangai, Laura; Ogada, Stephen; Mweu, Cecilia
    Doum palm (Hyphaene compressa) is a perennial economic plant primarily growing in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). It is heavily relied upon for food, animal feed, construction materials and medicine, making it an ideal plant for resource sustainability. However, the limited information on its genetic resources has hindered its breeding and conservation studies. This study used the genotyping by sequencing approach to identify Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms. These SNPs were further used to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of 96 H. compressa accessions from Coastal, Northern and Eastern ASAL regions of Kenya using two approaches; reference-based and de novobased assemblies. STRUCTURE analysis grouped the sampled accessions into two genetic clusters (Cluster 1 and Cluster 2). Cluster 1 included accessions from the Northern region, whereas Cluster 2 included all accessions from Eastern and Coastal regions. Accessions from Kwale (Coastal) had mixed ancestry from both Cluster 1 and Cluster 2. These STRUCTURE findings were further supported by principal components analysis, discriminant analysis of principal components and phylogenetic analysis. Analysis of molecular variance indicated greater genetic variation within populations (92.7%) than among populations (7.3%). An overall FST of 0.074 was observed, signifying moderate genetic differentiation among populations. The results of this study will provide information useful in breeding, marker-assisted selection and conservation management of H. compressa.
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    Phenotypic Diversity of Doum Palm (Hyphaene compressa), a Semi-Domesticated Palm in the Arid and Semi-Arid Regions of Kenya
    (Hindawi, 2020-12-29) Budambula, Nancy L. M.; Neondo, Johnstone; Gituru, Robert; Mweu, Cecilia; Omire, Agnes
    Hyphaene compressa is an economically important palm in Africa. Despite its significant role in the livelihoods of rural communities, the diversity of doum palm is poorly documented and studied. In addition, it has no model descriptor that can aid such studies. Ninety H. compressa accessions collected from Northern, Eastern, and Coastal regions of Kenya were examined to determine the morphological variability of the vegetative and fruit traits of H. compressa and to identify its morphotypes for improvement. A total of 19 morphological characters including seven quantitative and 12 qualitative traits of fruit and vegetative traits were selected. Linear mixed-effects models, principal component analysis, and linear discriminant analyses were used to assess the variation in the morphological traits of doum palm based on the regions. Hierarchical clustering was performed to identify the morphotypes of H. compressa. )ere was variability in H. compressa morphological traits, particularly at the Kenyan Coast. All seven quantitative traits were able to effectively discriminate doum palm phenotypically (p ≤ 0.001). )e 90 accessions clustered into five morphotypes designated as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Morphotype 4 was specific only to the Coastal region. Morphotype 5 had the tallest trees with the biggest fruits and included palms from Eastern and Coastal regions making it the best morphotype for fruit traits. )is study will inform the domestication, improvement, and conservation of H. compressa by selecting elite accessions.