Delineation of inbred lines of Indian mustard into diverse gene pools based on agro-morphological traits

Abstract

The present study was conducted to explore the variability generated through recombination breeding for nine economically important traits in Indian mustard (<i>Brassica juncea </i>L. Czern & Coss.). Delineation of the inbred lines to different gene pools, based on genetic diversity, enables their utilisation in hybrid breeding. The unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) and a Euclidean distance matrix was used to delineate the inbred lines to clusters. The variability was studied using the range and coefficients of variation of the traits. Significant variability was observed for all studied traits except for oil content and days to maturity. 128 Indian mustard genotypes were grouped into four distinct gene pools based on genetic diversity. A set of 20 most diverse genotype combinations was produced. Promising inbred lines were identified and recommended as donors for the respective trait. The pedigree analysis of the inbred line groups revealed, that recombination breeding caused a large diversity as confirmed by the assignment of inbred lines with the same parentage to specific clusters.