The study of genetic diversity of cultivated plants is important for conservation of genetic resources as well as for selection of genetically diverse parent lines from several
genetic populations. The aim of the present study was to expand the knowledge of the genetic diversity of amaranth grown in Burkina Faso. Eleven microsatellite markers (SSR)
were used to genotype 72 amaranth accessions. The markers tested proved to be 100% polymorphic and generated a total of 35 alleles, with an average of 3.27 alleles per marker. The frequency of observed heterozygosity averaged 0.26 per locus and was slightly lower than the expected heterozygosity (He = 0.27). Axes 1 and 2 of the PCoA explained 39.27% of the population distribution variance. Analysis of variance showed that there was only 2% variation between morphotypes. The degrees of genetic differentiation Fst cal-culated between the morphotypes were low (0.05 ≤ Fst ≤0.11), showing numerous genetic exchanges. The dark green morphotype was an exception, with a low gene flow (0.286
≤ Fst ≤ 0.452) with the other morphotypes. Pairwise analysis showed only a small genetic distance (0.04) between the Sahelian and Sudano-Sahelian climatic zones. Genetic structuring using showed no morphological or genetic distinctions, indicating little genetic divergence between the groups. These preliminary results show that the population studied has satisfactory genetic diversity, which can be used as a basis to guide conservation and sustainable breeding programs for amaranth in Burkina Faso.

Amaranthus, microsatellite marker, morphotype, phylogenetic, genetic variability