Feasibility of Cultivating Artemisia afra Jacq. ex Willd in Côte d’Ivoire (Daloa) and Evaluation of Its Genetic Diversity on the Basis of Phenotypic Variations

In the southern African regions, Artemisia afra Jacq. ex Willd is one of the most popular and commonly used herbal medicines. In recent years, A. afra has received much attention from the scientific community and its use is being investigated in the modern diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and respiratory diseases. This growth in popularity could pose a threat to the species due to intensive harvesting. Indeed, overexploitation is a growing problem for many medicinal species in Africa. To sustain the production and availability of A. afra, cultivation seems to be a good strategy and an alternative to collecting in the wild. Unlike A. annua L. (source of artemisinin), little information is available on the cultivation of A. Afra in West African countries. In this study, feasibility of cultivating A. Afra in Côte d’Ivoire was evaluated and the extent of its genetic diversity was assessed based on morphological variations. A. annua L. was used as control. The result showed for A. afra, 30 and 28.02% nursery and field mortality respectively, and 27.77% and 0% for A. annua. A. annua showed faster growth and development kinetics during the first 90 days after field transplantation. A. annua was relatively earlier (83 days to flowering on average) than A. afra (207.20 days to flowering on average). Contrary to A. annua, A. afra was sterile and did not give viable seeds, which poses a major problem of acclimatization in the environmental conditions of Côte d’Ivoire. Assessment of morphological traits revealed significant variations within and between species. Multivariate analysis showed important intra and interspecific genetic diversity. The plants of A. afra and A. annua were grouped separately and six major clusters were found: two clusters in A. annua (cluster I and II) and four clusters in A. afra (cluster III, IV, V and VI). These results show that further studies need to be considered to make cultivation of A. afra possible in Côte d’Ivoire with superior and genetically stable genotypes. Keywords: Artemisia afra, Artemisia annua, genetic diversity, cultivation DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-24-04 Publication date: December 31st 202

Effet de la Profondeur de Semis des Semences sur la Qualité Germinative des Graines de Pterocarpus Erinaceus Poir., 1804 (Fabaceae)

Pterocarpus erinaceus est une espèce largement utilisée par les populations des zones sahéliennes et soudaniennes. Cependant, cette espèce est menacée par l’exploitation abusive des peuplements naturels. La présente étude vise à déterminer un idéotype de profondeur de semis des graines de Pterocarpus erinaceus pour relever le taux de germination de production des plantules dans le cadre de sa régénération. Pour ce faire, les graines ont été décortiquées et enfouies à différentes profondeurs (0,5 cm, 1 cm, 1,5 cm) sans traitement spécifique. L’évaluation de la vigueur des plantules a été basée sur des paramètres morphologiques qui sont : la hauteur (Ht), le diamètre au collet (Dcol), le nombre de feuille (Nf), la longueur des feuilles (Logfe) et la largeur des feuilles (Largfe). Les résultats ont montré que les meilleurs taux de germination (90,66 %) sont obtenus avec les semis enfouis à 0,5 cm du sol. Les faibles taux (41 %) de germinations ont été obtenus avec les semences enfouies à 1,5 cm. Cette expérimentation dénote que le semis superficiel des graines de Pterocarpus erinaceus est recommandé pour sa multiplication.   Pterocarpus erinaceus is a species widely used by populations in the Sahelian and Sudanese zones. This species, however, is threatened by the abusive exploitation of natural stands. This paper focuses on determining a seedling depth ideotype of Pterocarpus erinaceus seeds in recording the germination rate of seedling production as part of its regeneration. In doing this, the seeds were shelled and buried at different depths (0,5 cm, 1 cm, 1,5 cm) without specific treatment. The evaluation of the sturdiness of the seedling was based on morphological parameters which are: height (Ht), neck diameter (Dcol), number of leaves (Nf), length of leaves (Logfe), and width of leaves (largfe). The results showed that the best germination rates (90,66 %) are obtained with seedlings buried at 0,5 cm from the ground. Low germination rates (41 %) were obtained with seeds buried at 1,5 cm. This experiment indicates that the superficial sowing of the seeds of Pterocarpus erinaceus is recommended for its multiplication

Multivariate Analysis of Genetic Diversity Among Okra (Abelmoschus spp.) Cultivars Grown in Côte d’Ivoire Based on Agro-morphological Traits

Crop improvement for sustainable agriculture requires information about the genetic variability of traits that helps identify suitable parents. This study was conducted to investigate the extent of genetic diversity among 12 okra cultivars grown and marketed in Côte d’Ivoire, using 12 quantitative and 11 qualitative agro-morphological traits. A Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with five replications and two multivariate techniques, viz. principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) were used. The okra cultivars evaluated showed wide variation in quantitative traits but minimal variation in qualitative traits except for leaf and fruit shapes. The first two PCs explained 70.489% variation and identify seven traits (day to flowering, stem diameter, plant height, number of fruit ridges, number of fruits per plant, fruit yield and number of seeds per fruit) that play a prominent role in the differentiation of the okra cultivars, and therefore could be used as good criteria for selection in okra improvement. PCA and CA grouped the total cultivars into three divergent clusters exhibiting specific characteristics: vigor and good yield for cluster I, short plants and earliness for cluster II and high yield for cluster III. The results of this investigation indicated that substantial variability was present in the okra studied. The cultivars of the divergent clusters constitute interesting okra genetic resources that can be used as a parental material for further breeding. Keywords: genetic diversity, okra, Abelmoschus caillei, Abelmoschus esculentus, principal component analysis, cluster analysis DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-22-03 Publication date: November 30th 202

Flowering phenology and yield-related traits in an interspecific cross between Coffea pseudozanguebariae Bridson and C. canephora Pierre

Higher caffeine content and cup beverage bitterness considerably depreciated the commercial value of Coffea canephora Pierre (CAN) compared with C. arabica L (ARA). Wild caffeine-free species like C. pseudozanguebariae Bridson (PSE) offer the opportunity to produce new CAN varieties containing little or no caffeine. F1 plants resulting from a PSE × CAN cross, and BC1 individuals, derived from the first backcross generation (PSE × CAN) × CAN) were produced. In order to assess flowering phenology and yield traits in F1 and BC1 hybrids, six morphological characters including flowering time, pollen viability (PV), fructification rate (FR), seed set (SSET), flower number per node (NFN) and 100-bean weight (W100) were studied under environmental conditions in Côte d’Ivoire. The results showed that F1 plants flowered only in February while, for BC1, 20% and 80% of the plants flowered in January and February, respectively

The architectural unit setting up and architectural characteristics of Néré, Parkia biglobosa, Jack, R. Br. (Fabaceae)

Parkia biglobosa is a much-loved and over-exploited African savannah species for its socio-economic importance. Knowing and taking into account its architectural unit, which is the basis for diagnosing phenology, productivity and tree health, could provide a new perspective on its sustainable management. The aim of this study is to establish the architectural development in Parkia biglobosa by retrospective analysis. To achieve this objective, 390 indi-viduals of all sizes ranging from seedlings to senescent trees were observed and analysed under various soil and climatic conditions in Côte d’Ivoire. The results showed that Parkia biglobosa is a light plant but shading tolerant. It is a mixed vegetative axis plant, the stem is orthotropic* in its proximal part and plagiotropic* (collapsing) in its distal part in young stage. The tree then tran-sitions to an adult and old stage into a tree with a plagiotropic* axis in the proximal and distal parts, the trunk is built up by superimposing collapsed relay axes that gradually straighten, branching is sympodial*, growth is de-fined and sexuality is terminal and lateral. The ontogeny takes place in three phases: initiation of development and establishment of the crown (young), then flowering and establishment of the architectural unity (adult) and finally the death of secondary axes in the crown, duplication of the architecture by a series of partial and total reiterations (old). The level of organisation is 5: the hytomere, the module or growth unit, the axis, the architectural unit and the reiterated complex. Retrospective analysis of the modules showed that the dimensions of the growth units are indicators of morphological variation and species adaptation to a changing climate (P < 0.05). However, the equations generated by the morphological and habitat dimension linkage models are not significant (R2 and r < 0.7) to be used as a guide for field data collection. This study represents an initiation into the architectural study of this species and the information provided will serve as a basis for further research into the architecture in relation to the sustainable use of this species

Evaluations of the Capacity and the Characteristics of Germination of MyrianthusArboreus (Cecropiaceae)by Cuttings Culture

Myrianthusarboreus is a food and medicinal plant. The young sheets, rich in amino-acids and rock salt are consumed out of sauce vegetable and like sauce vegetable. The seed rich in linoleic acid is consumed from Côte d'Ivoire to Congo. In addition, the sheet s, the fruits and the bark have many therapeutic virtues. Thus, the objective of this work is to contribute to the domestication of M. arboreus through his regeneration by cuttings culture. With this intention, three substrates of sowing (red sawdust, black soil and the mixture of black soil and red sawdust, three devices (under light barrier, greenhouse and open sky) and three types of explants (young stem, ripened stem and old stem), were tested. The results showed that the open sky device supports the best resumption of the cuttings culture with a rate of 61.48%. The cuttings culture of the old stem presented the greatest successes (60.37%) and the black soil with 41.85% proved to be the best substrate of sowing. Ultimately, M. arboreus is propagated rather easily

Agro-morphological Characterization of Myrianthus Arboreus (P. Beauv) in Côte d’Ivoire

The objective of this study is to evaluate the agro-morphologicals parameters of Myrianthus arboreus in five localities of the Côte d’Ivoire.Seventy-five individuals of Myrianthus arboreus collected in five localities of Côte d’Ivoire (Abengourou, Adzopé, Daloa, Diabo and Zouan Hounien), have been evaluated agro-morphologically. Twelve characters selected from the descriptors of this plant were used in this study. Statistical analysis revealed a high variability between the individuals collected. But a higher value of parameters tested was recorded in Abengourou than Diabo. Positive correlations were observed between leaf, production parameters and between foliage and production parameters. Hierarchical Classification Analysis associated with Discriminant Factor Analysis showed that individuals tested were split in three groups with complementary characteristics. Among parameters tested leaves width and fruits full quarter’s number were revealed as discriminating factors

Ecological environment effects on germination and seedling morphology in Parkia biglobosa in nursery (Côte d'Ivoire) and greenhouse (France)

International audienceNéré (Parkia biglobosa) is a wild species preferred and overexploited for its multiple uses by rural populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study of its germination and seedlings could constitute a prerequisite for its domestication, necessary for its conservation. This study aimed to assess the germination and morphology of seedlings taking into account distinct habitats from its natural environment.A total of 2160 seeds from different mother plants and 540 seedlings from germination were selected and evaluated. The trials were conducted on three sites (two nurseries in Côte d'Ivoire vs one greenhouse in France) with different microclimates. The results showed that the larger the mother trees are, the larger the seeds they produce, which in turn generate more vigorous seedlings. This study showed that the species grows better in a milder environment that is different from its region of origin (fertile soil with a stable or humid tropical climate: Montpellier greenhouse and Daloa nursery). Overall, parent trees did not statistically influence each germination and seedling development parameter for the three sites combined (P > 0.05). However, analysis of variance showed that germination and seedling development parameters differed between experimental sites (P < 0.05). These results are useful and could be used as decision support tools to guide conservation (domestication) and agroforestry programmes based on Parkia biglobosa. This study could be extended to other endangered species in order to preserve biodiversity