Genetic variation in some Iranian bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia L.) landraces based on agronomic-morphological traits for use in breeding program in Rafsanjan

Abstract

The aims of this research were to generate information on agro-morphological variability among 42 bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia L.) landraces collected from major growing areas of North West of Iran. The landraces were grown according to rectangular lattice design in the field across 2 years (2018 and 2019) in the Research Farm at Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan (Rafsanjan, Iran). Observations were recorded days to 50% flowering, days to maturing start, days to 50% maturing, height to first flower node, plant height in flowering stage, plant height in maturity stage, root length in maturity stage, number of lateral branch, one, two and three seed pod length, number of pod per plant, number of seed per pod, number of seed per plant, thousand kernel weight, biomass and grain yield. Analysis of variance revealed significant variation among landraces for the majority of the traits. Using principal component analysis, the first five PCs with eigenvalues > 1 contributed 74.4% of the variability among landraces. PC1, which is the most important component, explained 28. 9% of the total variation and was positively related to days to 50% maturing, plant height in maturity stage, days to maturing start, plant height in flowering stage, height to first flower node and biomass, respectively and PC2 accounted for 20.6% of the total variation and the traits with the greatest weight on this component were number of seed per plant, number of pod per plant, grain yield and two seed pod length, respectively. Cluster analysis using Ward method divided landraces into four groups. Based on cluster analysis and mean comparison among four groups, promising landraces were identified with superior traits such as number of pod per plant, number of seed per plant, thousand kernel weight, biomass and grain yield. The results demonstrated bitter vetch landraces of North West of Iran are a useful source of diversity in desirable traits that can be exploited in future breeding programs.