Genetic Diversity in Cowpea Worldwide Germplasm.

Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] (2n=2x=22) is a major crop cultivated world-wide, mainly used as human food in Africa, as a vegetable in other regions including Asia, Southern Europe, and Central and South America, or as cover crop in Southern US.  The objective of this research is to conduct genetic diversity in world-wide germplasm. A total of 730 cowpea germplasm collected from 54 countries were used in this study. Over a million SNPs were postulated from the GBS data of the 730 cowpea germplasm by de novo assembly. The genetic diversity analysis in the 730 cowpea germplasm is in progress. The results from this research will provide useful information for cowpea breeding program.