Genetic Diversity Among Traditional Ethiopian Highland Maize Accessions Assessed by Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) Markers     

Yoseph Beyene  Anna-Maria Botha  Alexander A. Myburg 《Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution》2006,53(8):1579-1588

Over the past three centuries, maize has become adapted to complex environmental conditions in the highlands of Ethiopia. We analyzed 62 traditional Ethiopian highland maize accessions, using 20 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and 15 morphological traits, to assess genetic diversity and relationships among these accessions and to assess the level of correlation between phenotypic and genetic distances. The accessions varied significantly for all of the measured morphological traits. The average number of alleles per locus was 4.9. Pair-wise genetic dissimilarity coefficients ranged from 0.27 to 0.63 with a mean of 0.49. Ward minimum variance cluster analysis showed that accessions collected from the Northern agroecology were distinct from the Western and Southern agroecologies. However, there was no differentiation between the Western and Southern accessions. This suggested gene flow between these regions. The relationship between morphological and SSR-based distances was significant and positive (r = 0.43, p = 0.001). The high genetic diversity observed among these set of accessions, suggests ample opportunity for the development of improved varieties for different agroecologies of Ethiopia. From conservation perspective, sampling many accessions from all agroecologies would be an effective way of capturing genetic variation for future collections and conservation.  相似文献   

Nodulation status of native woody legumes and phenotypic characteristics of associated rhizobia in soils of southern Ethiopia     

Endalkachew?Wolde-meskelEmail author  Trygve?Berg  N.?Kent Peters  ?sa?Frosteg?rd 《Biology and Fertility of Soils》2004,40(1):55-66

The nodulation of provenances of Acacia seyal, Acacia tortilis and Faidherbia albida, and other indigenous multipurpose tree species were tested in 14 different soil samples collected from diverse agro-ecological zones in southern Ethiopia. Associated rhizobia were isolated from these and from excavated nodules of field standing mature trees, and phenotypically characterized. Indigenous rhizobia capable of eliciting nodules on at least one or more of the woody legume species tested were present in most of the soils. Tree species were markedly different in nodulation in the different site soils. Sesbania sesban and Acacia abyssinica showed higher nodulation ability across the different sites indicating widespread occurrence of compatible rhizobia in the soils. The nodulation patterns of the different provenances of Acacia spp. suggested the existence of intraspecific provenance variations in rhizobial affinity which can be exploited to improve N fixation through tree selection. Altogether, 241 isolates were recovered from the root nodules of trap host species and from excavated nodules. Isolates were differentiated by growth rate and colony morphology and there were very fast-, fast-, slow-, and very slow-growing rhizobia. The bulk of them (68.5%) were fast-growing acid-producing rhizobia while 25.3% were slow-growing alkali-producing types. Fast-growing alkali-producing (2.9%) and slow-growing acid-producing strains (3.3%) were isolated from trap host species and excavated nodules, respectively. All isolates fell into four colony types: watery translucent, white translucent, dull glistering and milky (curdled) type. The diversity of indigenous rhizobia in growth rate and colony morphology suggested that the collection probably includes several rhizobial genera.  相似文献   

Geographic variation in tetraploid wheat (Triticum turgidum spp. turgidum convar. durum) landraces from two provinces in Ethiopia     

Luciano Pecetti  Ardeshir B. Damania 《Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution》1996,43(5):395-407

There is considerable wealth of genetical and morphological variation in tetraploid wheat collected from Ethiopia by past expeditions. Several authors have speculated on the reasons for this concentration of diversity so far removed from the centre of origin of wheats in West Asia. The present study reports results of evaluation carried out on material collected in the early 1970's from Ethiopia. The landraces from the two provinces Shewa and Tigray were found to be distinctly different. This divergence was attributed to the differences in environmental conditions between them. Wide differentiation among landraces within each province was also present. The Ethiopian farmer's practice of growing composite cultivars in the field has resulted in bulk samples of Ethiopian landraces containing several agrotypes. The proportion of total variance due to differences among agrotypes within landraces was by far the greatest found in this study, followed in most cases by the variation among landrace populations within provinces which exceeded, in turn, the variation between province gene pools. The optimal strategy for further germplasm collections and implications for improvement and conservation in locally-based community gene banks are discussed.  相似文献   

Declining stocks of Lake Tana’s endemic Barbus species flock (Pisces, Cyprinidae): natural variation or human impact?     

Martin de Graaf  Tesfaye Wudneh 《Biological conservation》2004,116(2):277-287

The only remaining species flock of endemic, large cyprinid fishes is found in Lake Tana, Ethiopia. A monthly experimental trawl program was conducted in 1991-1993 and 1999-2001, sampling 12 stations distributed over three habitats differing in depth and distance to shore. The aim was to compare the total abundance, spatial distribution and proportion of juveniles of the most common Barbus species in the Bahar Dar Gulf between both periods. We found a sharp reduction (75%) in total abundance, both in number and biomass of the Barbus species and even more (90%) in the number of juveniles between the two periods. However, the spatial distribution of the different Barbus species over the three habitats had not changed. High natural variability in fish stocks might be expected in environmentally unstable lakes. Although strongly pulsed (seasonal), Lake Tana is a relatively stable system. No major differences were found in abiotic parameters in 1990s that could have caused the dramatic changes in abundance. The most likely explanation is the negative impact of the motorised, commercial gillnet fishery targeting the spawning aggregations of these barbs. The drastic decline in juveniles points especially towards serious recruitment over-fishing. The results stress the need for the immediate development of a sound management plan focussing on fishing effort restrictions during the Barbus breeding season.  相似文献   

Rhizobia nodulating African Acacia spp. and Sesbania sesban trees in southern Ethiopian soils are metabolically and genomically diverse     

Endalkachew Wolde-meskel  Zewdu Terefework  Åsa Frostegård 《Soil biology & biochemistry》2004,36(12):2013-2025

The diversity of 110 rhizobial strains isolated from Acacia abyssinica, A. seyal, A. tortilis, Faidherbia albida, Sesbania sesban, Phaseolus vulgaris, and Vigna unguiculata grown in soils across diverse agro-ecological zones in southern Ethiopia was assessed using the Biolog™ system and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting technique. By cluster analysis of the metabolic and genomic fingerprints, the test strains were grouped into 13 Biolog and 11 AFLP clusters. Twenty-two strains in the Biolog method and 15 strains in the AFLP analysis were linked to eight and four reference species, respectively, out of the 28 included in the study. Most of the test strains (more than 80% of 110) were not related to any of the reference species by both methods. Forty-six test strains (42% of 110) were grouped into seven corresponding Biolog and AFLP clusters, suggesting that these groups represented the same strains, or in some cases clonal descendants of the same organisms. In contrast to the strains from S. sesban, isolates from Acacia spp. were represented in several Biolog and AFLP clusters indicating the promiscuous nature of the latter and widespread occurrence of compatible rhizobia in most of the soil sampling locations. The results showed that indigenous rhizobia nodulating native woody species in Ethiopian soils constituted metabolically and genomically diverse groups that are not linked to reference species.  相似文献   

Variation and interrelationships of agronomic traits in Ethiopian tetraploid wheat landraces     

Getachew Belay  T. Tesemma  H. C. Becker  A. Merker 《Euphytica》1993,71(3):181-188

Summary Sixty tetraploid wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) landrace agrotypes collected from the central highlands of Ethiopia and one commercial check cultivar (Boohai) were evaluated at Akaki experimental station for grain yield and 11 other component traits. The objectives were to estimate phenotypic (PCV) and genetic (GCV) coefficients of variation, broad-sense heritability (H) and genetic advance (GA), and to determine the interrelationships among the various traits. Genotypic differences among the agrotypes were highly significant for all the traits considered. Compared to Boohai, the landrace agrotypes were later in days-to-heading (DTH) and maturity (DTM), and had shorter grain filling period (GFP), lower fertility (KS) and lower 1000-kernel weight (TKW). By contrast, they were superior to Boohai in tiller number (TN), biological yield (BY) and grain yield plant^-1 (GYP). Intermediate to high order estimate combinations of GCV, H and GA (as % of the mean) were observed for TN, GYP, number of kernels spike^-1 (NKS), harvest index (HI) and TKW. GYP showed a moderate heritability which was higher than GFP, BY and Plant height (PHt). DTH and DTM were strongly correlated, but both were negatively associated with the rest of the traits except PHt. The negative correlation of DTM with GYP was largely indirect via other characters. PHt had either a weak or negative association with the other traits. TN and TKW were positively correlated with GYP, and had high and intermediate direct effects, respectively. These two traits, however, were negatively correlated and showed a substantial counter-balance effect via one another. It appears that, for the short-term, improvement of the Ethiopian wheat landraces may be possible through indirect selection for TN and TKW or direct selection for grain yield per se. In the long-run, crossing programmes between indigenous and introduced germplasm may be necessary.  相似文献   

Diversity and production of Ethiopian dry woodlands explained by climate- and soil-stress gradients   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Abeje Eshete  Frank Sterck  Frans Bongers 《Forest Ecology and Management》2011,261(9):1499-1509

Dry woodlands cover about 14% of the total African land surface and represent about 25% of the natural vegetation. They are characterized by a seasonal climate, with a dry season of 4-7 months. Large parts of these ecosystems are degrading due to grazing, fire or exploitation by people. We studied species richness and productivity patterns of dry woodlands in Ethiopia. For such ecosystems, classic productivity and diversity hypotheses predict that species richness and productivity increase as the wet season length increases, and decrease when soil conditions create water stress. We inventoried and measured trees in 18 2-ha plots distributed in two sites, one higher altitude site with a shorter wet season than the lower altitude site. We found that the stand volume per hectare was lower in the site with a shorter wet season. Across all 18 plots we observed that stand volume decreased with soil water stress (estimated from texture and depth). This was in line with the prediction. The species richness was lower in the short-wet-season woodlands, but was unaffected by variation in soil conditions. This suggests that climate driven constraints (wet season length) set the limits to species richness, and not soil conditions. As far as we know, this study is one of the first studies that evaluated these productivity and diversity hypotheses for dry African woodlands.  相似文献   

Longevity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Juniperus procera</Emphasis> seed lots under different storage conditions: implications for ex situ conservation in seed banks     

Negash Mamo  Diriba Nigusie  Mulualem Tigabu  Demel Teketay  Miftah Fekadu 《林业研究》2011,22(3):453-459

Juniperus procera Endl. is economically important timber species, but its populations are extremely small and fragmented in its natural habitat, thus, calling for immediate ex situ conservation. Here we examined the effects of seed sources and storage temperature on the longevity of Juniperus procera seed lots through collection and preservation of seeds in seed banks. Seeds were collected from nine sites across the species natural distribution in Ethiopia and stored in four warehouses: modern cold room (5℃), mud house (15℃), concrete block house (17℃ or corrugated iron house (20℃) for 42 months. Every three months, a random sample of stored seeds were drawn and tested for germination. A highly significant variation (p < 0.01) in germination of stored seeds was observed among different storage environments, seed lots, and duration of storage. Over the storage period, seeds stored in the cold room had the highest mean percentage germination, followed by the mud house, corrugated house and blocket house. The cold room (41%) and the mud house (38%) maintained the same level of germination as the intitial germination of the seedlotds (42%). The variation in longevity of stored seeds was significnatly correlated with the initial germination of seed lots (r > 0.80; p < 0.01). Cold storage also resulted in enhancement of germination through its stratification effect that terminated the non-deepphysiological dormancy of juniper seeds. In conclusion, seed lots with good initial germination can be effectively stored in cold room (5℃) up to four years. In the absence of modern cold stores, mud houses can be used as a good alternative to store seeds at local level.  相似文献   

Nutrient composition and short-term release from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Croton macrostachyus</Emphasis> Del. and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Millettia ferruginea</Emphasis> (Hochst.) Baker leaves     

Jiregna?GindabaEmail author  Mats?Olsson  Fisseha?Itanna 《Biology and Fertility of Soils》2004,40(6):393-397

A field study was conducted to investigate the nutrient content of green and abscised leaves of Croton macrostachyus Del. and Millettia ferruginea (Hochst.) Baker and their decomposition to return these nutrients to the soil in the short-term. Green and abscised leaves were collected from trees of comparable size in Wondo Genet, Ethiopia, and were incorporated into litterbags to decompose for a period of 12 weeks. Green leaves of C. macrostachyus had significantly higher nutrient concentrations than those of M. ferruginea. In both species, green leaves had significantly higher (P<0.05) C, N and P and significantly lower (P<0.05) lignin and polyphenol concentrations than abscised leaves. Fifty percent of the biomass applied was lost during the first 7 weeks in C. macrostachyus, which was about 3 times faster than that of M. ferruginea. The half-lives of N and P were 5–8 weeks and 4–6 weeks, respectively, in C. macrostachyus; the corresponding values for M. ferruginea were 6–8 and about 22 weeks, respectively. Only 15.7% and 26.8% of green and abscised leaves of C. macrostachyus, respectively, were recovered after the 12 weeks of decomposition. The corresponding values were about 3.5-fold and 2.5-fold higher for M. ferruginea. Generally, leaves with higher initial lignin, polyphenol, lignin:N and C:N ratios had lower decomposition and mineralization rates. In both species, removal of leaf biomass before abscission (e.g. by pruning) could enhance both the quantity and rate of nutrient return to the soil.  相似文献   

Growth of juvenile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus L. from Lakes Zwai, Langeno and Chamo (Ethiopian rift valley) based on otolith microincrement analysis     

D.Admassu  I.Ahlgren 《Ecology of Freshwater Fish》2000,9(3):127-137

Abstract – Age and growth of juvenile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus , from Lakes Zwai, Langeno and Chamo (Ethiopia) were studied from microincrements in otoliths. Growth in length was best described by the Gompertz model. Average growth rate of the fish was most rapid in Lake Chamo (0.39 mm  ·  day⁻¹, 1.14%  ·  day⁻¹), intermediate in Lake Zwai (0.20 mm  ·  day⁻¹, 0.72%  ·  day⁻¹) and slowest in Lake Langeno (0.16 mm  ·  day⁻¹, 0.62%  ·  day⁻¹). Similarly, back-calculation from otolith increment widths gave growth rates of 0.28 to 0.43 mm  ·  day⁻¹, 0.15 to 0.32 mm  ·  day⁻¹ and 0.11 to 0.28 mm  ·  day⁻¹ for Chamo, Zwai and Langeno fish, respectively. In addition, Fulton's condition factor was largest for Chamo tilapia and smallest for Langeno tilapia; the difference between fish from Langeno and Zwai was small. Rapid growth of juvenile O. niloticus in Lake Chamo was attributed to warm temperature and better food quality. ^Note  相似文献