Bambara groundnut is an important source of protein to the rural majority in sub-Saharan Africa. However, small
farmers grow locally adapted landraces which are generally low yielding. Adequate knowledge of variability within Bambara groundnut germplasm collections is crucial for crop improvement and has important implications for conservation, management and future usefulness of germplasm resources. The objective of this study was to assess the genetic diversity of Bambara groundnut cultivated in Burkina Faso. A total of 92 Bambara groundnut accessions mainly collected in the three agro-climatic zones of Burkina Faso were estimated using 10 SSR markers. For all the loci analyzed, results showed a low average value of gene diversity and polymorphic information content of 0.307 and 0.298 respectively and a low average number of 4.9 alleles per locus. A Neighbour-joining dendrogram based on the dissimilarity matrix clustered the 92 landraces into two major mixed groups supported by accessions from the three agro-ecological zones. Thus, the study gave the genetic diversity profile of the collection which can be used for selection of appropriate parental genotypes for breeding program.

Vigna subterranea, accessions, gene diversity, dissimilarity matrix analysis