Character Association and Genetic Divergence in Germplasm Lines of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Author: A. Mishra and Jayashree Kar

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Abstract

Genetic variability is an important tool for the improvement of seed yield in sunflower. The analysis of variance of 33 sunflower genotypes revealed significant differences for all 12 characters studied. The phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation were high for seed yield per plant, hulling%, number of leaves per plant and 100 achene weights indicating the scope for improvement by selection for these characters. Correspondence between phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation (PCV & GCV) indicated that all characters studied were least affected by environment. High heritability coupled with the high genetic advance were recorded for plant height, number of leaves/plants, hulling percentage and 100 achene weight indicating the presence of additive gene action in controlling these traits. At the phenotypic level, plant height and head diameter were positively and significantly correlated with seed yield. Character such as head diameter had the highest direct effect on the yield/plant both at genotypic and phenotypic level. Genetic divergence using Mahalanobis D2 statistic was worked out in 33 genotypes including two checks. These 33 genotypes were grouped into seven clusters. Cluster I was the largest cluster including 15 genotypes followed by cluster II and cluster III with seven and five genotypes respectively. Highest inter-cluster distance was found between cluster IV and cluster VII, thus suggesting that the genotypes of these clusters may be exploited to explore the entire range of variability for the character (s) to realize good recombinant lines

Keywords

PCV, GCV, Heritability, Genetic Advance, Correlation, Genetic divergence

Conclusion

High estimate of heritability coupled with high genetic advance for characters like plant height, stem diameter, no. of leaves/plant, number of ray florets/head, head diameter, hulling percentage, 100 achene weight and yield/plant attributed to the preponderance of additive gene action and these traits possessed high selective value. Head diameter showed significant positive correlation with yield/plant with high direct effect. So, emphasis should be given on direct selection for this trait while attempting yield improvement in sunflower Thirty- three genotypes were grouped into seven clusters out of which two are mono-genotypic. Hulling percentage and plant height contributed maximum to genetic divergence. Hulling percentage and plant height contributed maximum to genetic divergence. Based on maximum genetic distance and cluster mean it is desirable to make crosses between the genotypes of cluster, cluster IV and cluster VI and with the genotype of cluster VII for creation of genetic variability to isolate transgressive segregants for earliness and enhancement of yield of sunflower

References

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How to cite this article

A. Mishra and Jayashree Kar (2023). Character Association and Genetic Divergence in Germplasm Lines of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(7): 411-418.