African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12496

Full Length Research Paper

Collection, evaluation and classification of Iranian confectionary sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) populations using multivaraite statistical techniques

Maryam Kholghi1, Iraj Bernousi1, Reza Darvishzadeh1,2*, Alireza Pirzad1 and Hamid Hatami Maleki3        
1Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran. 2Institue of Biotechnology, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran. 3Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, University of Maragheh, Maragheh, Iran.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 01 April 2011
  •  Published: 20 June 2011

Abstract

Characterization of confectionary sunflower germplasm resources is critical to their efficient collection and management as well as for breeding programs. Thirty six (36) confectionary sunflower populations originating from different regions of Northwest Iran were characterized using 15 agro-morphological traits. Among the studied traits, high coefficients of variation were observed for harvest index (48.36), seed yield (42.07) and petiole length (41.63). Cluster analysis using Ward's method classified the 36 populations into four groups. A large number of genotypes was placed in cluster III (16 genotypes) followed by cluster I (13), cluster IV (4) and cluster II (3). Clusters I, III and VI include genotypes from different sources indicating no association between clustering pattern and eco-geographical distribution of genotypes. The maximum inter-cluster distance of 9.03 was observed between clusters II and VI indicating the possibility of high heterosis if individuals from these two clusters are cross-bred. Principal component analysis resulted in the first four components with Eigen value greater than one accounting for 78% of the total variation. The results of PCA were closely in line with those of cluster analysis. These results can now be used by breeders to develop high yielding sunflower hybrids.

 

Key words: Cluster analysis, confectionary sunflower, genetic variability, principal component analysis.