Knowledge of genebank and on-farm genetic diversity, particularly in an introduced crop species, is crucial to the management and utilization of the genetic resources available. Microsatellite markers were used to determine genetic diversity in 574 accessions of cacao, Theobroma cacao L., representing eight groups covering parental populations in West Africa, genebank, and farmers' populations in Nigeria. From the 12 microsatellite markers used, a total of 144 alleles were detected with a mean allelic richness of 4.39 alleles/locus. The largest genetic diversity was found in the Upper Amazon parent population (H nb =0.730), followed by the 1944 Posnette's Introduction (H nb =0.704), and was lowest in the Local parent population (H nb =0.471). Gene diversity was appreciably high in the farmers' populations (H nb =0.563-0.624); however, the effective number of alleles was lower than that found in the genebank's Posnette's population. Fixation index estimates indicated deficiency of heterozygotes in the Upper Amazon and the Local parent populations (F is = 0.209 and 0.160, respectively), and excess of heterozygotes in the Trinitario parent population (F is =−0.341). The presence of inbreeding in the Local parent populations and substructure (Wahlund effect) in the Upper Amazon were suggested for the deficiency of heterozygotes observed. Non-significant genetic differentiation observed between the genebank's and farmers' populations indicated significant impact of national breeding programs on varieties grown in farmers' plantations. From this study, we showed that appreciable genetic diversity was present in on-farm and field genebank collections of cacao that can be exploited for crop improvement in West Africa. Suggestions for future conservation of on-farm genetic diversity and local landraces are further discussed.

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Broad sense heritabilities were estimated in three long-term cocoa clone trials in Ghana, with 20, 18 and 15 entries. They were 0.15, 0.05 and 0.15 for yield in pods per plant, and 0.26, 0.19 and 0.40 for incidence of 'bad' pods, mostly due to black pod disease, caused by infection with Phytophthora spp. The low heritability of single plant yield, which has been known for 80 years, has been widely overlooked in cocoa research and extension, compromising the success of clone selection programmes. The heritability of the incidence of black pod disease is high enough to justify mass selection where family level data are not available. The findings will be applied in a new large-scale programme in Ghana to select clones that are high yielding in the presence of P. megakarya.

Black pod is an important fungal disease of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) that causes severe yield losses. The disease affects the pods, beans, flower cushions, leaves, stems and roots. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of resistance screening methods used in breeding black pod disease resistance in cocoa. The resistance of cocoa leaves and pods to Phytophthora palmivora was investigated in twenty five international genotypes of cocoa in five laboratory experiments and a field observation at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana. A significant clonal difference for leaf and pod resistance was observed at penetration and post-penetration stages of infection. Correlation between resistance of leaves and pods was positive and significant at both penetration and post-penetration stages of infection. The occurrence of such a characteristic of cocoa leaf suggests the value of use of leaves of cocoa seedlings for the prediction of pod resistance to black pod disease. The reliability of the tests was evaluated by correlating results of the inoculation tests with the level of field infection. These correlations were generally positive and significant, both for detached pod and leaf tests. The high positive correlation between detached leaves and pods and natural Phytophthora pod rot infection in the field showed that detached organs can be used for prediction of resistance in the field. Overall, for the convenience of operations and reliability of results, leaf disc test was the best screening method and was also time saving. Clones SCA 6, T85/799, LAF1, ICS 1 and GU 225V were noted to be promising for breeding against black pod disease. The susceptible clones were MO 20, T79/501, VENC 4-4, PA 120 and MOCORONGO.Key Words: Phytophthora palmivora, penetration resistance, Theobroma cacao RÉSUMÉ La gousse noire est une maladie fongique importante du cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) qui cause des pertes de rendement énormes. La maladie affecte les cabosses, des fèves, des coussins de fleurs, feuilles, les tiges et les racines. L'objectif de cette étude était d'évaluer l'efficacité des méthodes de sélection utilisées dans la résistance aux maladies de gousse noir dans le processus d'amélioration du cacao. La résistance des feuilles et gousses du cacao au Phytophthora palmivora avait fait l'objet d'une investigation sur vingt-cinq génotypes internationaux du cacao dans cinq expériences de laboratoire et dans une observation de champ à l'Institut de Recherche sur le Cacao au Ghana. Une différence clonale significative pour la résistance de la feuille et de la gousse avait été observée aux stades de pénétration et post-pénétration de l'infection. La corrélation entre la résistance des feuilles et les gousses était positive et significative aussi bien au stade de pénétration qu'au stade de post-pénétration au cours de l'infection. L'apparition d'une telle caractéristique de la feuille du cacao suggère la valeur de l'utilisation des feuilles de plantules du cacao dans la prédiction de la résistance de gousse a...

Two self-incompatible Upper Amazon cacao clones, T85/799 and T79/501, were pollinated with compatible Amelonado pollen subjected to varying doses of gamma irradiation (10-100 Gy). The proportion of flat non-viable beans to fully formed, viable beans in the pods increased with an increase in dosage of gamma rays. At 60 Gy all the beans produced were fiat and non-viable, beyond this dosage fruit set was zero. Pollinating the self-incompatible cacao clones with a 1 : 1 mixture of compatible mentor pollen irradiated at 60 Gy and normal self pollen produced a mixture of flat, non-viable beans and fully-formed viable beans. Similar experiments using irradiated pollen with a marker gene suggested that the fully-formed viable beans resulted from selfing. Increasing the proportion of the radiation-treated compatible pollen in the mixture increased the number of fully-formed beans. However, when compatible pollen which had been treated either at 80 Gy or with temperatures of 35 ° C, 40 ° C and 45 ° C for periods of five, ten and fifteen minutes in factorial combination were mixed with self pollen, no successful pollinations were achieved. Pollen viability tests indicated that, whilst pollen treated at 60 Gy were about 50% viable, those treated at either 80 Gy or with temperatures of 35-45 ° C were mostly not viable. This suggests that, to overcome the incompatibility in cacao, the tubes of the mentor pollen grains used should at least grow into the style. The possible causes for overcoming the self-incompatibility in cacao are discussed.