CBN-V Video Archives - S6-08
DNA Marker for Distinguishing between Low-cyanide and High-cyanide Cassava Varieties

Dossou-Yovo I., J.H. Mignouna, J. Machuka and M. Bokanga

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), P.M.B. 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria m.bokanga@cgiar.org

        Cassava breeding programs routinely measure the content of cyanogenic compounds in cassava roots at harvest using either the rapid but less accurate picrate method or the more accurate but complex enzymatic method. This paper presents the first DNA marker for the cyanogenesis trait in cassava. Four out 60 RAPD primers tested gave a polymorphism enabling to distinguish between low-cyanide and high-cyanide varieties. Through Bulked Segregant Analysis, it was confirmed that the RAPD primer OPT-07 gave a polymorphic band at 850 bp in low-cyanide varieties, which is absent in high-cyanide varieties. Such marker will be useful in the identification of low-cyanide genotypes, not only at harvest time, but at any stage of the cassava plant growth cycle.

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