Feyisa Bejiga Gelashe

Mr. Feyisa Bejiga Gelashe

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Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

1Year (2026-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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28 February 2026 in Genes
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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FGFeyisa Bejiga Gelashe
Feyisa Bejiga Gelashe
ANArsenio Daniel Ndeve
Arsenio Daniel Ndeve
TMTemesgen Matiwos Menamo
Temesgen Matiwos Menamo
HGHarish Gandhi
Harish Gandhi
RCRogério M. Chiulele
Rogério M. Chiulele
Background/Objectives: Despite its economic importance, the genome-wide genetic diversity of sesame germplasm conserved in the Ethiopian national ex situ collection, a proposed center of origin, remains inadequately characterized. This study assessed genome-wide genetic diversity and population structure in 188 sesame accessions from six Ethiopian Agricultural Research Centers using DArTSeq-based SNP markers. Methods: After quality filtering, 5163 high-quality markers were retained from the original set of 12,302 SNPs. Mean expected heterozygosity (He = 0.201) exceeded observed heterozygosity (Ho = 0.193), reflecting sesame’s predominantly self-pollinating nature. Results: The SNPs showed a transition/transversion ratio of 1.17:1 and an uneven distribution across 16 linkage groups. STRUCTURE, PCA, DAPC, and neighbor-joining cluster analyses revealed a clear hierarchical population structure with distinct clusters and varying admixture. Accessions from Assosa (AARC) and Bako (BARC) were genetically uniform, whereas Werer (WARC) and Gambella (GaARC) were major diversity reservoirs, exhibiting high heterozygosity and gene diversity. Pairwise FST values ranged from 0.001 to 0.356, and AMOVA indicated that 30–43% of variation occurred among collections and 57–70% within collections, highlighting substantial intra-collection diversity. Conclusions: The findings highlight that specific research centers were identified as key sources of genetic variation for breeding, conservation, and association mapping to enhance the improvement in agronomic and adaptive traits in sesame for the Ethiopian sesame gene pool.