PHENOTYPIC DIVERSITY AMONG SOME COWPEA (VIGNAUNGUICULATA(L.) WALP) AND SESAME (SESAMUMSPP) ACCESSIONS CONSERVED AT GENETIC RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE(GERRI) IN KENYA

Cowpea (Vignaunguiculata(L.) Walp) and sesame (SesamumindicumL.) are both adapted to the dry and infertilearid and semi-arid environments (ASALs). These crops are rich sources of high quality protein and essential oils, respectively. Consequently, the two crops are ideal food and nutritionalsecurity commodities for the vulnerable communities who live in these fragile environments.The Genetics Resources Research Institute (GeRRI)s genebankhas amassed 972 and 2491 accessions of cowpea and sesame,respectively. However,utilization of these genetic resources has remained generally low largely due to limited characterization and evaluation data. As one of the measures to mitigate this problem, 123 accessions of cowpeaand 203 of sesame werephenotypically characterized at KALRO- Kiboko field.Five quantitative and nineteen qualitative traits were used to characterize the cowpea accessions whilethree quantitative and twenty one qualitative traits were used to characterize the sesame accessions.According to principal component analysis (PCA), 10 factors accounted for 65% of the total variability among the cowpea accessions while 10 factors accounted for 68% of the total variability among the sesame accessions.Hierarchical clustering generated five similarity clusters (groups) for cowpeas and twomain clusters (groups) for sesame. The hierarchical clusters observed for the crops could be attributed to the regions from which the accessions were collected or donated. Passport data held at the genebank indicate that majority of the cowpea accessions were collected from the Eastern, Western and Coast regions of Kenya or donated from ICRISAT and IITA. Similarly, majority of sesame accessions were collected from Kenya or donated from othercountries such as Israel, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Somalia, Mexico, Mozambique, Vietnam, South Korea and USA.The diversity in these accessions can be exploited in breeding better varieties of these crops.豇豆（Vignaunguiculata(L.) Walp）与芝麻（SesamumindicumL.）均能适应干旱贫瘠的干旱半干旱生境（ASALs）。二者分别为优质蛋白质与精油的丰富来源。因此，对于居住在这类脆弱生境中的弱势社区而言，这两种作物是理想的粮食与营养保障作物。 遗传资源研究所（Genetics Resources Research Institute，缩写GeRRI）的种质资源库已分别收集保存了972份豇豆种质与2491份芝麻种质。然而，受限于有限的表型鉴定与评价数据，此类遗传资源的整体利用效率仍偏低。为缓解这一问题，研究团队在肯尼亚农业与畜牧业研究组织（Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization，缩写KALRO）基博科试验站对123份豇豆种质与203份芝麻种质开展了表型鉴定。本次鉴定共针对豇豆种质设置了5个数量性状与19个质量性状，针对芝麻种质则设置了3个数量性状与21个质量性状。 通过主成分分析（PCA）可知，10个主成分因子可解释豇豆种质群体65%的总变异，而10个主成分因子可解释芝麻种质群体68%的总变异。层次聚类分析将豇豆种质划分为5个相似性类群，将芝麻种质划分为2个主要类群。上述聚类结果可归因于种质的采集或捐赠来源地。 种质资源库留存的种质护照数据显示，多数豇豆种质采集自肯尼亚东部、西部与沿海地区，或由国际半干旱热带作物研究所（International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics，缩写ICRISAT）与国际热带农业研究所（International Institute of Tropical Agriculture，缩写IITA）捐赠。同样，多数芝麻种质采集自肯尼亚，或由以色列、希腊、土耳其、埃及、索马里、墨西哥、莫桑比克、越南、韩国以及美国等国家捐赠。可利用此类种质的遗传多样性培育更优良的作物品种。