Use of Multivariate Analysis in Screening for Drought Tolerance in Ornamental Asteraceae Species
Diana M. Mircea,
Roberta Calone,
Rashmi Shakya,
Martín Flores Saavedra,
Radu E. Sestras,
Monica Boscaiu,
Adriana F. Sestras,
Oscar Vicente
Affiliations
Diana M. Mircea
Department of Forestry, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 3–5 Manastur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Roberta Calone
CREA—Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, I-40128 Bologna, I-00184 Rome, Italy
Rashmi Shakya
Institute for the Conservation and Improvement of Valencian Agrodiversity (COMAV), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Martín Flores Saavedra
Institute for the Conservation and Improvement of Valencian Agrodiversity (COMAV), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Radu E. Sestras
Department of Horticulture and Landscape, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 3–5 Manastur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Monica Boscaiu
Mediterranean Agroforestry Institute (IAM), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Adriana F. Sestras
Department of Forestry, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 3–5 Manastur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Oscar Vicente
Institute for the Conservation and Improvement of Valencian Agrodiversity (COMAV), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Asteraceae is one of the families with a large number of ornamental plants. Climate change imposes the need to select species that are more tolerant to changing environmental conditions, especially drought. In this study, we compared the performance under water stress of six species belonging to different tribes of Asteraceae with different geographical origins. Young plants obtained after seed germination were subjected to intermediate water stress (irrigation with half the water amount used in control treatments) and severe water stress (no irrigation at all) for one month. Growth variables and biochemical stress markers were determined to assess the effects on the plants of the stress treatments. Multivariate analysis tools were used to rank species according to their tolerance. Three species were relatively more susceptible to water stress, Callistephus chinensis, Xerochrysum bracteatum, and Calendula officinalis, whereas Leucanthemum vulgare, Glebionis carinata, and Ageratum houstonianum were more tolerant. Our study indicated that the last two species, which are registered as invasive in some geographic areas, possess a larger phenotypic plasticity. Principal component analysis (PCA) combined with canonical variation analysis (CVA) proved optimal statistical methods for analysing species of diverse origins and belonging to different genera of a large family, such as the Asteraceae.
