Assessment of genetic diversity in annatto through progeny evaluation
Abstract
Annatto is a commercially exploited plant species for its seed dye. Bixin is the carotenoid present in the seed arils of the plant. Twenty seed based progenies were raised from plus trees of Bixa orellana L. collected from various geographic locations of Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Significant variations were recorded in the growth performance under nursery. Genetic divergence studies revealed that 20 progenies were resolved into seven clusters. Higher cluster mean values were shown in cluster VII (TNBi 0012) and cluster VI (TNBi 008), as they are unique and genetically divergent. The clustering pattern revealed that there is no connection between genetic diversity and geographical nearness. Cluster IV reported maximum intra cluster distance. Maximum inter cluster distance was recorded between cluster I and cluster IV. The progenies of cluster I (TNBi 003 and TNBi 005) and cluster IV (TNBi 002 and TNBi 0013) could be employed for further hybridization for the improvement of the species.
Key words: Annatto, Progenies, Growth traits, Clusters, Genetic diversity
It is certified that:
- The corresponding author is fully responsible for any disputes arising due to the publication of his/her manuscript.
- The article has been seen by all the authors who are satisfied with its form and content.
- The sequence of names of authors in the by-line is as per their relative contribution to this experiment, giving due credit to all scientists who made notable contribution to it.
- All the authors fully understand that inclusion of any other co-authors or exclusion of any co-authors is not possible once the article has been submitted to the journal.
- The corresponding author takes full responsibility for this article.
- The address of the organization where the research was conducted is given.
- The article is exclusive for this journal, and the results reported here have not been sent (and will not be sent during its consideration by this journal) for publication in any other journal.
- Authors agree to abide by the objective comments of referees and do agree to modify the article into a short note as per the recommendation, for publication in the Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding.
- If published in Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding, the copyright of this article would vest with the Indian Society of Plant Breeders, who will have the right to enter into any agreement with any organization in India or abroad engaged in reprography, photocopying, storage and dissemination of information contained in it, and neither we nor our legal heirs will have any claims on royalty.
