Diversity of Serbian wheat varieties based on UPOV-defined characteristics

Abstract

Understanding genetic diversity of wheat germplasm is important for its identification, classification and efficient use in breeding. The aim of this study was to assess genetic diversity of 152 wheat varieties developed at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Serbia, during the last 50 years, with 15 morphological characteristics based on UPOV (International Union for Protection of New Varieties of Plants) guidelines. The Shannon diversity index was used as an indicator of morphological diversity and it ranged from 0.63, for the seasonal type, to 1.49, for the hairiness on convex surface on the apical rachis segment, with the mean value of 1.10, indicating a high morphological diversity. On average, the diversity was higher for traits relating to generative organs than for those associated with vegetative organs. The 15 morphological characteristics were sufficient to distinguish unique profiles of all 152 wheat varieties. Besides, the estimation of wheat varietal diversity and identification of morphological characteristics with the highest discriminative power were done by homogeneity analysis (HOMALS). The traits that contributed the most to the distinction of varieties were the presence of scurs or awns on ears, shoulder width of lower glumes, beak length of lower glumes and seasonal type. Although the first two dimensions contributes to only 20% of the total variability of categorical data, the methods grouped the varieties with the same categories of the most discriminative traits. Morphological characterization using the traits with the highest discriminative power could be a useful complementary method for comprehensive wheat germplasm classification and diversity analysis.