Genetic diversity assessment in sorghum accessions using qualitative morphological and amplified fragment length polymorphism markers

Qualitative morphological and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were compared for assessment of genetic diversity. Nine qualitative morphological traits were recorded to compare genetic relationships among 17 sorghum accessions with information derived from six AFLP primer combinations analysis. The mean morphological genetic similarity was lower in comparison to similarity computed using AFLP markers. Genetic similarity measured by AFLP markers was similar within the Ethiopian and South African material, as well as between South African and Ethiopian material. Morphological similarity was much higher in the Ethiopian material than in the South African material, indicating that the genotypes were related. The two techniques described genetic variability in different ways. Dendrogram generated from the morphological data matrix separated accession 216737 as being genetically distinct from the rest of the accessions. Accessions M101 and 97MW6127 were the most dissimilar accessions based on AFLP data.