Assessment of Genetic Diversity in Sesame Genotypes Based on Morphological Characters
Md. Ashfaq *
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Agricultural College, Polasa, Jagtial, Telangana, India.
K. Jhansi Rani
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Agricultural College, Polasa, Jagtial, Telangana, India.
D. Padmaja
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, RARS, Polasa, Jagtial, Telangana, India.
Praduman Yadav
Department of Biochemistry, IIOR, Hyderabad, India.
Usha Kiran Betha
Department of Biotechnology, IIOR, Hyderabad, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Fifty sesame genotypes were evaluated to assess the extent of genetic diversity based on morphological characters. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes. Plant height (62.20 %) contributed most to the genetic divergence followed by number of capsules per plant (20.40 %). No relationship between geographic origin and genetic diversity was observed as genotypes from different sources were grouped in same clusters in spite of difference in their origin. Based on the intercluster distances, diverse parents from different clusters were identified for further use as parents in future breeding programmes.
Keywords: Sesame, genetic diversity, cluster analysis, Tocher′s method