Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXV, Issue 2
Written by Rangel DRAGOV
The aim of this research is to study phenotypic correlations and establishing the genetic distance between parents and their hybrids by cluster analysis. Experiments were conducted in three consecutive years in the experimental field of the Field Crops Institute - Chirpan, Bulgaria. The trials were performed in a randomized block design in three replications. Nine quantitative traits were observed, seven related to productivity and two related to grain quality. Significant differences between genotypes were established for all studied traits. The traits grains number per spike and grains weight per spike had a high positive correlation. This relationship was of great importance in determining the right strategy for leading a selection for productivity. At the first level the cluster analysis revealed two clusters genetically distant from each other. The bigger cluster was divided into two clusters with significant distance. Three clusters with a significant distance between them were observed. Parents and their hybrids fall into different clusters, indicating that hybrid combinations are genetically distant from their parents.
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