Genetic variability and diversity analysis in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) germplasm

Abstract

The evaluation encompassed 52 sesame germplasms to assess their variability and diversity. Number of primary branches, number of capsules per plant and single plant yield were the traits having high PCV and GCV along with high heritability and genetic advance as percent of mean. These findings suggest considerable variation for these traits among the germplasms and are strongly influenced by genetic factors, making them suitable candidates for effective selection strategies. The diversity among 52 sesame germplasm accessions were analysed using Mahalanobis D2 analysis andAgglomerative hierarchical clustering. They were grouped in to 11 clusters using Mahalanobis D2 analysis. Cluster II was the largest, followed by cluster I. Highest intra-cluster distance was observed for cluster VIII, followed by cluster IV and cluster II. The greatest inter-cluster distance was observed among cluster VI and VII. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) based on Ward’s method was used to group the accessions, into clusters of increasing dissimilarity. The highest dissimilarity was observed between the genotypes CO1 and VRI-NIC-16381. Based on the AHC and D2 analyses, genotypes with moderate to highest mean values from distant clusters are recommended as parental candidates in crop improvement programs to facilitate the creation of superior cross combinations.

Keywords

• sesame
• variability
• diversity
• d2 analysis
• gingelly
• hierarchical clustering