Analysis of leaf phenotypic diversity of some Hevea Accessions/clones conserved at the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD) Ekona, Cameroon

Njukeng Jetro Nkengafac Njukeng Jetro Nkengafac,Ndille Claurence Nkumbe Ndille Claurence Nkumbe

doi:10.30574/wjarr.2021.12.2.0581

Njukeng Jetro Nkengafac Njukeng Jetro Nkengafac, Ndille Claurence Nkumbe Ndille Claurence Nkumbe

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2021.12.2.0581

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Abstract

This study was carried out to estimate leaf morphological diversity of some accessions/clones from IRRDB 1981 Hevea germplasm collection conserved at IRAD Ekona, to determine the importance of leaf morphological descriptors in differentiating accessions/clones. A total of 36 clones/ accessions were characterized using 6 leaf morphological descriptors. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences in the leaf morphological parameters for the studied clones. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that all leaf descriptors were informative and contributed significantly to the variation. The first 2 Principal Component scores (PCs) accounted for 88% of the total variation. The cluster analysis based on significant PCs grouped all accessions and clones in to 6 main clusters at the distance of 1.5. This study permits the characterization of Hevea accessions and clones in to diverse groups using leaf morphological descriptors; hence this will be advantageous for production of diverse genotypes during breeding programs to broaden the Hevea gene pool.

Highlights

The rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) is the only plant species being cultivated for commercial production of rubber in the world
Over the years the quest of improvement in rubber breeding has led to the collection of Hevea clones and accessions from different rubber producing countries and the International Rubber Research and Development Board (IRRDB) 1981 expedition
Wild Hevea germplasm was collected from 60 different locations and was distributed among the IRRDB member countries including Cameroon [4, 5]

Summary

Introduction

The rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) is the only plant species being cultivated for commercial production of rubber in the world. It belongs to the genus Hevea of the family Euphorbiaceae and originated from the Amazon basin [1]. Like in other rubber producing countries, seedlings were cultivated in Cameroon [3]. Over the years the quest of improvement in rubber breeding has led to the collection of Hevea clones and accessions from different rubber producing countries and the International Rubber Research and Development Board (IRRDB) 1981 expedition. Wild Hevea germplasm was collected from 60 different locations and was distributed among the IRRDB member countries including Cameroon [4, 5].

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