Genetic diversity of sweet potatoes [Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam.] in Ecuador

The present work considered collecting and characterizing the genetic diversity of sweet potato [ Ipomoea batata (L.) Lam.] in Ecuador through morphological and molecular descriptors (SSRs). Germplasm collections were made to assemble a national sweet potato collection for Ecuador. Characterization of the genetic diversity of this species was done through 34 morphological descriptors (24 qualitative and 10 quantitative), plus 12 exclusive descriptors for flowering and 8 microsatellites (SSRs). Three hundred and sixty-eight sweet potato accessions were collected in 18 provinces of Ecuador. Morphological characterization showed seven morphological groups and the variables with the greatest discriminating power for the description of the germplasm (p