Publication:

Genetic diversity and stability analysis based on agro-morphological traits among rice genotypes developed through marker-assisted backcrossing

Background The genetic diversity and stability analysis based on agro-morphological traits among rice genotypes developed through SSR marker-assisted backcrossing was evaluated at college of agricultural science (CAS), Ebonyi State niversity, Abakaliki, Nigeria.

Methods In this study, 9 rice accessions sourced from the Iinstitute of tropical agriculture and food security (ITAFoS), universiti Putra, Malaysia and Ebonyi, Nigeria; were evaluated for yield stability performance. The experiments were laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications each for two seasons.

Results Result of the evaluated rice accessions showed highly marked morphological variability based on the mean performance and were grouped into three main clusters. Cluster I had CP, cluster II contained Line4, Line5, Line6, and Line8, and cluster III had Line1, Line7, Line12, and Putra-1. The first, 3 principal components were identified and retained for having the Eigen-value >1. The first PC had an eigenvalue of (6.30) with 52.5% proportion of which plant height accounted most for this variation with (0.359) whereas panicle length contributed the least (-0.13). For stability analysis, CP had highest values for most of the parameters. High heritability value was recorded for all nine traits which range between 71.04% and 95.06%. The highest heritability value (95.06%) was found in Days 50% heading while grain width had the lowest (71.04%).

Conclusions It could be concluded that CP, Putral-1, and line7 were the most stable in terms of yield across the two seasons of this study; hence, recommended for parental materials for hybridization.