Pineapple ( Ananas comosus ), a widely cultivated tropical fruit, is known for its global economic and nutritional significance. The study aimed to investigate the genetic diversity of 80 pineapple accessions from Kenya using Sequence-Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP) markers. Out of the 48 SRAP primers, six polymorphic primers were identified. Genetic diversity was examined using DARWin, GenAlEx, and PopGene software. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) extraction followed a modified CTAB (Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) method, ensuring quality DNA for analysis. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was conducted with selected primers to amplify DNA segments, revealing polymorphisms. The findings revealed significant genetic differences among (22%) and within (78%) populations, with a PhiPT value of 0.221, Nei’s gene diversity (H) of 0.1761, and Shannon’s Information index (I) of 0.2699, indicating moderate population differentiation. Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) explained 53.47% of the overall genetic variation, revealing a relatively homogenous genetic composition within accessions. Gene flow (Nm) was 1.3623, suggesting moderate gene flow among populations. The dendrogram grouped samples into two clusters, corroborating the homogenous genetic composition. No differentiation among populations was observed using Nei’s genetic distance matrix. The overall genetic similarity suggests that most populations share a common genetic background. Improving the genetic diversity of Kenyan pineapples is essential for enhancing resilience and sustainability. This can be achieved through collecting local varieties, cross-breeding, importing new cultivars, conducting genomic studies, and establishing gene banks. These efforts will help make Kenyan pineapples more adaptable, productive, and resistant to climate change and other challenges.
Mohd Ali, M., Hashim, N., Abd Aziz, S. and Lasekan, O. (2020) Pineapple ( Ananas comosus ): A Comprehensive Review of Nutritional Values, Volatile Compounds, Health Benefits, and Potential Food Products. Food Research International , 137, Article 109675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109675
de Araújo, H.S., do Carmo, S.A., dos Santos, N.C.B., Freitas, P.G.N. and Purquerio, L.F.V. (2021) Effect of Shading Screens on the Production and Quality of ‘smooth Cayenne’ Pineapple. Pesquisa Agropecuária Tropical , 51, e69594. https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-40632021v5169594
Chaudhary, V., Kumar, V., Singh, K., Kumar, R. and Kumar, V. (2019) Pineapple ( Ananas cosmosus ) Product Processing: A Review. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry , 8, 4642-4652.
Cleveland, M.A. and Deeb, N. (2012) Selecting Markers and Evaluating Coverage. In: Rifkin, S., Ed., Methods in Molecular Biology , Vol. 871, Humana Press, 55-71. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-785-9_5
FAOSTAT (2022) Crops and Livestock Products. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/TCL
George, J., Nguyen, T., Williams, D., Hardner, C., Sanewski, G. and Smyth, H.E. (2023) Review of the Aroma Chemistry of Pineapple ( Ananas comosus ). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry , 71, 4069-4082. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.2c08546
Hasan, S., Ali, M. and Khalil, M. (1970) Impact of Pineapple Cultivation on the Increased Income of Pineapple Growers. The Agriculturists , 8, 50-56. https://doi.org/10.3329/agric.v8i2.7577
Farid Hossain, M., Akhtar, S. and Anwar, M. (2015) Nutritional Value and Medicinal Benefits of Pineapple. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences , 4, 84-88. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.22
Hossain, F. (2016) World Pineapple Production: An Overview. African Journal of Food , Agriculture , Nutrition and Development , 16, 11443-11456. https://doi.org/10.18697/ajfand.76.15620
Islam, M.A. and Ashilenje, D.S. (2018) Diversified Forage Cropping Systems and Their Implications on Resilience and Productivity. Sustainability , 10, Article 3920. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10113920
Khan, F. (2015) Molecular Markers: An Excellent Tool for Genetic Analysis. Journal of Molecular Biomarkers & Diagnosis , 6, Article 233. https://doi.org/10.4172/2155-9929.1000233
Koech, W., Ithinji, G.K. and Kibet, L.K. (2013) Evaluating Technical Efficiency of Small-Scale Pineapple ( Ananas comosus ) Production in Bureti District, Kenya. Current Research Journal of Social Sciences , 5, 192-196. https://doi.org/10.19026/crjss.5.5555
Kordrostami, M. and Rahimi, M. (2015) Molecular Markers in Plants: Concepts and Applications. Genetics in the Third Millennium , 13, 4024-4031.
Kronstad, W.E. (2015) Genetic Diversity and Plant Improvement. Agronomy Society of New Zealand, 16-20.
Li, G. and Quiros, C.F. (2001) Sequence-Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP), a New Marker System Based on a Simple PCR Reaction: Its Application to Mapping and Gene Tagging in Brassica. Theoretical and Applied Genetics , 103, 455-461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s001220100570
Maia, V.M., Pegoraro, R.F., Aspiazú, I., Oliveira, F.S. and Nobre, D.A.C. (2020) Diagnosis and Management of Nutrient Constraints in Pineapple. In: Srivastava, A.K. and Hu, C., Eds., Fruit Crops , Elsevier, 739-760. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-818732-6.00050-2
Mansora, A.M., Lima, J.S., Anib, F.N. and Hashima, H. (2018) Ultimate and Proximate Analysis of Malaysia Pineapple Biomass from MD2 Cultivar for Biofuel Application. Chemical Engineering Transactions , 63, 127-132.
McDermott, J. (1993) Gene Flow in Plant Pathosystems. Annual Review of Phytopathology , 31, 353-373. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.phyto.31.1.353
Murariu, D., Plăcintă, D.D. and Simioniuc, V. (2019) Assessing Genetic Diversity in Romanian Maize Landraces, Using Molecular Markers. Romanian Agricultural Research , No. 36, 3-9. https://doi.org/10.59665/rar3601
Nam, V.T., Hang, P.L.B., Linh, N.N., Ly, L.H., Hue, H.T.T., Ha, N.H., et al . (2021) Molecular Markers for Analysis of Plant Genetic Diversity. Vietnam Journal of Biotechnology , 18, 589-608. https://doi.org/10.15625/1811-4989/18/4/15326
Nei, M. (1972) Genetic Distance between Populations. The American Naturalist , 106, 283-292. https://doi.org/10.1086/282771
Onyuma, S., Icart, E. and Owuor, G. (2006) Testing Market Integration for Fresh Pineapples in Kenya. Research in Agricultural and Applied Economics. International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), No. 1004-2016-78885.
Palinkas, L.A., Horwitz, S.M., Green, C.A., Wisdom, J.P., Duan, N. and Hoagwood, K. (2013) Purposeful Sampling for Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis in Mixed Method Implementation Research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research , 42, 533-544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y
PEAKALL, R. and SMOUSE, P.E. (2005) GENALEX 6: Genetic Analysis in Excel. Population Genetic Software for Teaching and Research. Molecular Ecology Notes , 6, 288-295. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-8286.2005.01155.x
Perrier, X. and Jacquemoud-Collet, J. (2009) DARwin Software. http://darwin.cirad.fr/
Rakshit, S. and Swapna, M. (2015) DNA Markers in Diversity Analysis. In: Madhusudhana, R., Rajendrakumar, P. and Patil, J., Eds., Sorghum Molecular Breeding , Springer, 23-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2422-8_2
Rao, V.R. and Hodgkin, T. (2002) Genetic Diversity and Conservation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1-19.
Robarts, D.W.H. and Wolfe, A.D. (2014) Sequence‐Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP) Markers: A Potential Resource for Studies in Plant Molecular Biology. Applications in Plant Sciences , 2, Article 1400017. https://doi.org/10.3732/apps.1400017
Safavi, S.M., Safavi, A.S. and Safavi, S.A. (2015) Assessment of Genetic Diversity in Sunflower (Helianthus Annus L.) Genotypes Using Agro-Morphological Traits. Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences , 6, 152-159.
Singh, B.D. and Singh, A.K. (2015) Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based Markers. In: Marker - Assisted Plant Breeding : Principles and Practices , Springer, 47-75. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2316-0_3
Valleser, V.C. (2019) Growth and Fruit Physicochemical Characteristics of ‘MD-2’ Pineapple ( Ananas comosus L.) at Varying Seedbed Configurations. Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science , 42, 377-386.
Wardy, W., Saalia, F.K., Steiner-Asiedu, M., Budu, A.S. and Sefa-Dedeh, S. (2009) A Comparison of Some Physical, Chemical and Sensory Attributes of Three Pineapple ( Ananas comosus ) Varieties Grown in Ghana. African Journal of Food Science , 3, 94-99.
Yeh, F., Yang, R., Boyle, T., Ye, Z. and Mao, J. (1997) PopGene, the User-Friendly Shareware for Population Genetic Analysis. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Centre, University of Alberta.
Zagorcheva, T., Rusanov, K., Bosmali, E., Madesis, P., Tsvetkov, I. and Atanasov, I. (2020) Sequence-Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP) Markers, an Efficient and Affordable Tool for Evaluation Genetic Diversity in Forest Areas. Silva Balcanica , 21, 41-46. https://doi.org/10.3897/silvabalcanica.21.e54699
Zhao, H. and Qin, Y. (2018) Genetic Diversity of Pineapple. In: Ming, R., Ed., Plant Genetics and Genomics : Crops and Models , Springer International Publishing, 51-59. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00614-3_4
Zommita, S., Yildiz, G.G., Zencirci, N., Özbek, Ö., Ünüvar, Ö.C. and Ünlü, E.S. (2023) Assessment of Genetic Diversity Based on Agro-Morphological Traits and ISSR Molecular Markers in Einkorn Wheat (Triticum Monococcum ssp. Monococcum) Landrace Populations from Turkey. International Journal of Secondary Metabolite , 10, 86-105. https://doi.org/10.21448/ijsm.1084853
Wang, J.S., He, J.H., Chen, H.R. Chen, Y.Y. and Qiao, F. (2027) Genetic Diversity in Various Accessions of Pineapple [ Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.] Using ISSR and SSR Markers. Biochemical Genetics , 55, 347-366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10528-017-9803-z
Silva, D.C., Krause, W., Arantes, D.S.O., Freitas, A.P., Santos, E.A., de Araújo, D.V., et al . (2024) Pineapple Breeding: Development of New Pineapple Cultivars without Leaf Spines and Resistant to Fusariosis. Euphytica , 220, Article No. 135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-024-03363-w