Assessment of genetic diversity in biochemical and morphological traits in Iranian dill genotypes

Naser Sabaghnia, Mehdi Mohebodini, Asghar Ebadi, Mohsen Janmohammadi, DOI: 10.46793/BiolNyss.17.1.12M

Abstract


As a historical vegetable crop, dill (Anethum graveolens L.) is cultivated for food or herbal medicine. This research investigated the genetic variation of thirty dill (Anethum graveolens L.) genotypes collected from various areas of Iran. The trial was performed using a randomized block scheme utilizing four replicates, and some morphological, and biochemical traits were measured. The range of plant fresh and dry weights were 5.39 g and 1.01 g per plant, respectively, with mean values of 3.75 g and 1.01 g per plant. The essential oil content exhibited variation, ranging up to 1.43%, with an average of 1.43%. Cluster analysis of traits indicated that Group-I included seeds of umbels and umbellets, plant fresh and dry weight, seed yield, umbellets of umbel, and nodes before flowering, while Group-II consisted of essential oil content and biochemical compounds such as proline, phenols, and anthocyanins. Group-III included traits related to photosynthetic pigments and Group-IV consist on fresh and dry weights of inflorescence and length of flowering stem. Clustering of the dill genotypes, classified them into five clusters according to performances across genotypes. Cluster-I and Cluster-II exhibited the highest values for plant dry weight and seed yield, indicating superior biomass production and reproductive capacity. Essential oil content was notably high in Cluster-II and Cluster-III, while Cluster-IV and Cluster-V showed moderate to low levels in these target traits. Cluster-II genotypes, encompassing eight accessions from diverse climatic regions, displayed the high performances for seed yield, biomass, and essential oil content. The results highlight significant genetic variation within Iranian dill germplasm, emphasizing the potential for selecting superior genotypes had adaptability to a range of environmental circumstances. The identified high-performing genotypes, particularly those in Cluster-II, are promising candidates for future breeding programs focused on enhancing yield and quality traits.


Keywords


cluster analysis, cutoff line, essential oil content, multivariate analysis

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References


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