Biodiversity of a red clover collection based on morpho-productive traits

Abstract

Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) is a meadow and pasture species in natural habitats and also a cultivated species used for animal nutrition. The aim of this research was the assessment of the diversity of 46 red clover accessions based on morphoproductive traits. The traits were investigated according to the UPOV descriptors for red clover – number of internodes, number of branches, stem length, stem thickness, middle leaflet length, middle leaflet width, green matter yield and dry matter yield.The principal components analysis (PCA) explained 74% of the variance of the standardized data and showed relationships between 46 red clover accessions and eight morpho-productive traits, associations among traits and performance of accessions. Among the determined Euclidean distances, the smallest value was obtained for the accessions Rotra and Titus (0.048), the largest value was 1.099 for a pair of NCPGRU2 and Čortanovci accessions, and the average value was 0.380. Two clusters of 46 red clover accessions were separated in the dendrogram based upon UPGMA (Unweighted Pair-Group Method with Arithmetic mean) for eight morpho-productive traits. The first cluster included two subclusters, while the second cluster contained four subclusters. The grouping of the accessions from the red clover collection by the UPGMA cluster analysis can be linked to the geographical origin of the accessions: central and southern Europe for three subclusters and north-eastern Europe for one subcluster.

Crvena detelina (Trifolium pratense L.) jeste livadsko-pašnjačka vrsta na prirodnim staništima, a i kultivisana vrsta koja se koristi u ishrani životinja. Svrha ovog istraživanja je bila procena diverziteta 46 genotipova crvene deteline na osnovu morfološko-produktivnih osobina. Proučavane su osobine na osnovu UPOV deskriptora – broja internodija, broja grana, dužine stabla, širine stabla, dužine centralne liske, širine centralne liske, prinosa zelene mase i prinosa suve materije. Analizom glavnih komponenti (PCA) morfo-produktivnih osobina crvene deteline objašnjeno je 74% varijanse standardizovanih podataka i prikazani su odnosi 46 genotipova crvene deteline i osam morfološko-produktivnih osobina, povezanost osobina i performansa genotipova. Među utvrđenim Euklidovim distancama, najmanja vrednost je izračunata za genotipove Rotra i Titus (0,048), najveća je bila 1,099 za par NCPGRU2 i Čortanovci, a prosečna vrednost je iznosila 0,380. Primenom neponderisanog metoda parnih grupa sa aritmetičkim prosecima (UPGMA), dendrogramom 46 genotipova crvene deteline konstruisanim na osnovu osam morfo-produktivnih osobina izdvojena su dva klastera. Prvi klaster je sadržao dva potklastera, dok se drugi klaster sastojao od četiri potklastera. Grupisanje genotipova crvene deteline pomoću UPGMA klaster analize moglo se dovesti u vezu sa geografskim poreklom genotipova: centralna i južna Evropa za tri potklastera i severoistočna Evropa za jedan potklaster.