Sequence Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP) Based Genetic Analysis of Nigerian ‘Egusi’ Melon Accessions

Variability is germane in crop improvement. The ability of molecular markers to reveal polymorphism can assist in identifying the specific loci of a particular trait in crops. Sequence related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) is a useful technique for determining the genetic diversity of plants and was used to discriminate fifty ‘egusi’ melon accessions from different parts of Nigeria. The fifty accessions were subjected to SRAP analysis and 65.48% of the bands were found to be polymorphic with similarity coefficients of the accessions ranging from 0.51 – 0.96. Accessions DD98/3, NG/AU/MAR/09/012, NG/OE/MAR/09/015, NG/AO/APR/09/032 and A17 were found to be distinct from all other accessions. The high level of polymorphism exhibited by the ‘egusi’ melon accessions show they would be useful for maintaining genetic diversity in future breeding programs.