Genetic divergence analysis in maintainer (B) and restorer (R) lines of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.)
Abstract
The present experiment was performed to analyze genetic diversity among 37 parental lines of pearl millet includes 10 maintainer and 27 restorer lines for grain yield and its attributes through Mahalanobis D2 statistics. All the 37 genotypes were assigned into eight different clusters. Cluster II was the largest one composed of 12 genotypes subsequently cluster V with eight genotypes, cluster VII contains seven genotypes and cluster I had five genotypes. Whereas, clusters III, IV and VIII were solitary. High order of genetic divergence was noticed between cluster VI and VII (109.29), followed by cluster VII and VIII (72.27), cluster III and VII (66.65). Hybridization between genotypes from divergent clusters and with the best mean performance for productivity traits could be beneficial for developing promising hybrids. The trait 1000 grain weight contributed a maximum (25.53%) towards genetic diversity followed by days to 50% flowering (19.22%), panicle girth (13.21%), panicle length (8.71%), panicle weight (7.81%) and plant height (7.36%). Hence, major emphasis could be given to these traits for a better selection of divergent genotypes.
Key words: Cluster, diversity, Maintainer line, Pearl millet, Restorer line
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