Abstract:
Local communities in the South Eastern Lowveld of Zimbabwe have adopted the feeding of livestock
with Neorautanenia brachypus (Harms) C.A. tuber to mitigate against climate change. Diferences within Neorautane nia brachypus (Harms) tuber fesh colour and preferences by cattle have been observed, suggesting possible diversity
within the N. brachypus plant community. This study aimed at distinguishing the N. brachypus wild plant species
through phenotypic and genetic characterization using morphological descriptors and random amplifed polymor phic (RAPD) markers respectively. Leaf samples were selected using judgmental sampling techniques from wards
11–15 in Sengwe (Chiredzi district) for leaf morphology and molecular characterization. RAPD-PCR analysis was done
using 18-screened random decamer primers to confrm the diversity in the plant population. The similarity of the
biotypes was evaluated using binary coding on the basis of the presence or absence of a morphological indicator as
well as distinct DNA amplicon fragments. Primer 7.0.13 was used to estimate morphological and genetic similarities
using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA). The cluster number was estimated using
the Elbow method part of the R package
