Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analysis of diploid coffee species and cultivated Coffea arabica L. from Tanzania

Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to evaluate levels of genetic similarity among Coffea arabica L. accessions from Tanzania and to estimate levels of genetic similarities in C. arabica and diploid coffee species. The six ISSR primers used generated a total of 82 fragments and the dissimilarity values ranged from 0.21 to 1. Mean dissimilarity values between provenances (0.56-0.85) were higher than within provenances (0.37-0.68). Cluster analysis based on Nei's genetic distances showed C. arabica provenances grouping based on geographical origin. Two major clusters were formed that constituted of provenances from Kilimanjaro and Arusha in one sub-cluster; Tanga and Morogoro in the other; the second cluster had Mbeya provenances and diploid species, respectively. The implication is that Mbeya provenances are different from the rest of Tanzanian C. arabica. A principal coordinate analysis (PCA), whose first three coordinates explained 43% of the variation, showed similar groupings as in the cluster analysis. A separate cluster analysis of diploid species showed a distinct separation of the three species used. ISSR data gave results similar to previous findings from random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) analysis. The results also confirm the limited diversity present in cultivated C. arabica in Tanzania.