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Research article2023Peer reviewedOpen access

Domestication Potential of Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae): Searching for Diversity in South Cameroon

Manourova, Anna; Chinheya, Irikidzai Prosper; Kalousova, Marie; Ruiz-Chutan, Jose Alejandro; Okafor, Uche Cyprian; Tchoundjeu, Zac; Tsobeng, Alain; Van Damme, Patrick; Lojka, Bohdan

Abstract

Seeds and bark of Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae) are popular products in West and Central Africa. Despite the tree's economic and cultural importance, little is known about its phenotypic and genotypic variation. This study characterised the morphological and genetic diversity of G. kola in South Cameroon, searching for traits and populations that might be used for domestication. Morphological assessment and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were applied to characterise diversity among geographic populations from Central and South regions, and between managed and wild trees. AFLP-SURV and analysis of molecular variance results indicated that a major part of genetic diversity is harboured within populations rather than between them. Bayesian analysis, principal component analysis and t-SNE identified three clusters where Ebolowa emerged as the transition population combining features from both regions. Trees from the South demonstrated a higher incidence of domestication-related traits, showing higher genetic diversity compared to the Central region. This suggests that individuals from the South might be more suitable for selection as "elite trees" in future breeding strategies for the species. No significant differences in phenotype and genotype were revealed between wild and managed populations, suggesting G. kola is still in the early stages of its domestication process.

Keywords

AFLP; indigenous trees; fruit species; neglected crops; nontimber forest products; West Africa

Published in

Plants
2023, Volume: 12, number: 4, article number: 742Publisher: MDPI

    Sustainable Development Goals

    SDG2 Zero hunger

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Agricultural Science

    More information

    Correction in: Plants, 2023, volume 12, number 24, Article Number: 4191, DOI: 10.3390/plants12244191

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12040742

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/121689