The pattern of genetic diversity in the Andean grain crop quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd). II. Multivariate methods

Abstract

Discrete and continuous characteristics related to plant morphology and pigmentation and to the duration of developmental phases were measured or noted in a diverse collection of quinoa germplasm. In a principal component analysis of the continuous characteristics, the first principal component was found to distinguish those accessions which germinate rapidly to produce small plants with small inflorescences, and the second component those which produced a large inflorescence relatively quickly, but there was no clear cut-off between important and unimportant variables or components. A canonical variate analysis of the continuous characteristics provided criteria for distinguishing ecotypes of quinoa, but suggested that these were artificial with the exception of a subtropical type from the Yungas region of Bolivia. A hierarchical cluster analysis of all the characteristics confirmed that the variety Amarilla de Marangani was unusual, but otherwise did not produce clear clusters. Accessions from near sea level in Chile formed a particularly homogeneous group. The impossibility of describing the variation in terms of a few axes or clusters means that a vast range of combinations of characteristics is available to breeders.