Growing vegetables
A. Mirhosseyni; M. Hassanpour Asil; J. A. Olfati; M. B. Farhangi
Abstract
Introduction
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an annual plant in the Cucurbitaceae family, which has 90 genera and 750 species. Iran, with an under-cultivation area of 89,632 hectares and a production rate of 1,804,184 tons of cucumbers, yield of 201,289 tons per hectare, and it is the third largest ...
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Introduction
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an annual plant in the Cucurbitaceae family, which has 90 genera and 750 species. Iran, with an under-cultivation area of 89,632 hectares and a production rate of 1,804,184 tons of cucumbers, yield of 201,289 tons per hectare, and it is the third largest cucumber producing country in the world in terms of production. Use of fruits of these vegetable is different depending on the country and the consumer's taste and demand, and it is cultivated for fresh consumption as well as processing (pickled vegetables or cucumbers). The utilization of local genotypes or unmodified native reserves for production has led to very low yield of cucumbers in some countries of the world. The general objectives of cucumber breeding are resistance to diseases and pests, fruit quality and yield increase. Considering the history of cultivation of this product in Iran and due to the large under-cultivation areas of cucumber in the country, little breeding research has been done on this product and the country's required seeds are supplied annually through imports. Therefore, practical and applied research on the breeding of cucumber plant seems necessary. The present study was conducted to evaluate 27 cucumber plant lines using factor analysis and cluster analysis as a tool to identify superior genotypes and more effective traits.
Materials and Methods
This study was carried out in the research greenhouse of Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, with a longitude of 49 degrees and 36 minutes east and latitude 37 degrees and 16 minutes north with a height of 7 meters from the level of the open sea in February 2021. Overall, 35 cucumber inbred lines, available in the Germplasm Bank, University of Guilan, were selected and on completely randomized design, in three separate rows, and with three replications. A code was assigned to each of the lines in order to facilitate the naming of lines and easier evaluation. In the winter of 2019, the desired genotypes were first planted in the seedling tray and kept there until the second true leaves were observed. Then they were transferred to the greenhouse in the form of a completely randomized design with 27 lines of inbred cucumbers, in three separate rows with 3 replications and 3 observations. The length of the plant breeding period continued until the economic fruiting of the plant. During the growing season, various traits were checked and recorded according to the national guidelines for tests of differentiation, uniformity and stability in cucumber prepared by the Research Institute of Registration and Certification of Seeds and Seedlings. These traits are the Fruit diameter (mm), Fruit length (mm), Fruit number, Weight of single fruit (g), Total fruit weight (g), Number of female flowers in 15 nodes, Number of female flowers per node, Width of the end of the terminal leaf(cm), Length of the end of the terminal leaf(cm), Number of lateral branches in 15 nodes, Length of 15 internodes (cm).
Results and Discussion
Genetic diversity in plant genotypes is essential for a successful breeding program. Understanding the degree of variability in plant species is of importance because it provides the basis for selection. The results of variance analysis show that there is a highly significant variation between the studied lines at the level of 1%. The significant difference observed between genotypes for all traits indicates the existence of inherent genetic variation among genotypes.
The evaluation results show that the average fruit weight trait varied from 1371.7 grams (L57) to 157.71 grams (L35) among the examined lines. Furthermore, genotype L57 (117.56 grams) had the highest statistical position in terms of single fruit weight. The results of the mean comparison table showed that L34 line had the highest fruit length values (161.84 mm) and L49 line had the highest fruit diameter values (39.83 mm). Moreover, L55 and L34 lines had the lowest values of fruit length (92.46 mm) and diameter (24.61 mm), respectively. The leaf area variable varied from 426.52 cm2 (L57) to 204.24 cm2 (L31) among the studied lines. The results of chlorophyll index traits investigation and total soluble solids showed that L51 line had the highest values in both traits.
The results of statistical analyses pertaining to genotypic and phenotypic variance, as well as general heritability, revealed that the trait with the highest heritability, at 99.44%, was fruit weight. With the exception of five traits-length of 15 primary internodes, leaf surface, length and width of the terminal leaf, and single fruit weight-whose heritability values were 87.35%, 73.83%, 63.59%, 61.27%, and 26.23%, respectively, the heritability exceeded 90% for the remaining traits. These findings indicate that most of the traits examined exhibited high heritability, suggesting they were less influenced by environmental factors. Factor analysis, an essential multivariate technique, was employed to explore trait relationships and assess the genetic diversity among genotypes. The results of factor analysis for 27 evaluated cucumber genotypes show that eight factors were identified. They were 23.52, 12.63, 11.81, 9.95, 8.6, 7.34, 6.27, 4.21 percent. in total explained 88% of the total diversity of traits in the studied population. In total, they justified 88% diversity of total traits in the studied population. The results of the cluster analysis placed the studied genotypes in four different groups based on the mean of traits. To ensure the cut-point in the dendrogram and to determine the actual number of groups, the discrimination function analysis method was used. The results of discrimination function analysis showed that the success of cluster analysis in grouping genotypes was 100%. Since the genotypes in each of the clusters have a greater genetic affinity with the genotypes in the same cluster and, conversely, a greater genetic distance with the genotypes in different clusters, hybridization can be done among the genotypes in different clusters according to the value of traits average for each cluster for more productivity of phenomena such as heterosis and transgressive segregation. On this basis, it seems that it is possible to produce hybrids that are superior to their parents in terms of various traits by hybridization between the genotypes in the first and second clusters with the genotypes in the third and fourth clusters.
Conclusion
According to the results obtained from this study, L57 and L54 genotypes had higher values than the rest of the genotypes in terms of fruit number and total fruit weight. Also, according to the results of cluster analysis, L57 line had higher total mean values in traits of total fruit weight, single fruit weight, diameter of the tail of the fruit, fruit, kernel diameter, fresh and dry weight of leaves and leaf area. In this study, the genotypes of the second and third groups in the fruit number trait, and the genotypes of the first and third groups in the fruit weight trait, due to having the maximum difference, were found suitable for use in crosses in order to create more diversity. In general, the results of this research showed that there was a suitable diversity among the studied lines in terms of all measured traits. In addition to the fact that the results obtained from this research can be used in future breeding programs, the results of multivariate statistical methods also show solutions for the scientific crossing of genotypes in future research. So that the genotypes placed in different groups in cluster analysis (Group 1: L57, Group 2: L54, L52, L47, L32, L49, and L27, Group 3: L43 and L35, Group 4: L59, L53, L51, L34, L26, L55, L25, L39, L31, L30, L33, L28, L29, L36, L24, L44, L22, and L20) and had superior characteristics in terms of different components, can be crossed together to create recombinant genotypes.
Growing vegetables
Z. Roudbari; M.R. Imani; J. Sarhadi; S. Khoshkam; R. Yoneszadeh
Abstract
Introduction
To specify the diversity of pepper plant (Capsicum ssp.) population and the inheritance of fruit characteristics for use in seed production breeding programs, there is a need for a diverse population in terms of the characteristics affecting fruit yield. By a large variety of options ...
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Introduction
To specify the diversity of pepper plant (Capsicum ssp.) population and the inheritance of fruit characteristics for use in seed production breeding programs, there is a need for a diverse population in terms of the characteristics affecting fruit yield. By a large variety of options available for each product, there is a greater probability of selecting the best decision. A population's genetic variety may be used in several ways, including selection and hybridization. Pepper is a plant belonging to the genus Capsicum and the family Solanaceae. It is cultivated globally, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. The genus Capsicum contains more than 30 wild and domestic species, which are classified according to flower structure, fruit, and the number of chromosomes (2n= 24, 26).
Materials and Methods
To compare different pepper species based on fruit morphology, a greenhouse experiment was conducted under hydroponic conditions in Zarandieh region, Markazi province, in a completely randomized design with three repetitions in 2021. The seeds of 42 pepper genotypes from 7 species were obtained from Gene Bank of Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK). Initially, the seeds were sown in dedicated planting trays. Once the seedlings had grown six leaves, they were transplanted to the main greenhouse. Within the greenhouse, the rows of cultivation were spaced 160 cm apart, with a 25 cm gap between individual plants. Each genotype was represented by ten plants. Throughout the growing season, the plants were managed by maintaining two branches and removing any surplus ones. In this research, the following characteristics were evaluated: fruit production across three harvests, fruit weight, fruit length and diameter, fruit flesh thickness, fruit flavor (spicy or sweet), unripe fruit color, and ripe fruit color. Descriptive statistics of evaluated trait, including mean, minimum and maximum traits and the percentage of phenotypic and genotypic diversity coefficients, heritability, and the analysis of variance and comparison of means, were used to analyze the data.
Results and Discussion
A diverse collection of pepper was evaluated due to the fruit morphological traits and significant differences among different genotypes in terms of these traits. The average fruit weight of the assessed population was 26.54 g. The minimum and maximum fruit weights of 152.70 and 0.13 g were related to genotypes 409 and 276, respectively. Genotype 318, with an average weight of 144.20 g, was not significantly different from genotype 409. Both genotypes were of the species annuum, but were in two separate groups regarding fruit morphology. The heritability rate of fruit weight was 93%, which is consistent with the results of Usman et al. (2014). Length, diameter and length to diameter ratio (fruit morphology index) are the most important factors in marketing pepper fruit. The mean fruit length, diameter and morphology index were 6.35, 2.57 cm and 3.04, respectively. The highest fruit length was related to genotypes 296 and 318 at 26.33, 20.20 and 19 cm, while the lowest fruit length was 0.70, related to genotype 277. The genotypes with the highest lengths were long pepper and Kapia sweet pepper, respectively, and the genotypes with the shortest lengths tasted spicy. Genotypes 409, 200, 318, 326, 272 and 348 had the largest diameter with 6.50, 6.23, 5.80, 5.67, 5.60 and 5.30 cm, respectively. These genotypes are bell, round, Kapia, triangular, triangular, round and sweet in terms of morphology. The smallest fruit diameter belonged to genotype 293 (0.30 cm), and the nineteen genotypes with a diameter of less than 2 cm did not differ significantly from 293. Twenty genotypes with the smallest fruit diameter have a pungent flavor (Table 1). The range of the fruit morphology index was from 0.56 to 8.99. The lowest and highest values were associated with genotypes 342 and 296, respectively (Table 3). The fruit of genotype 296 was sweet, whereas the fruit of genotype 342 was spicy. The heritability of length, diameter and fruit morphology index were 0.97, 0.97 and 0.98%, respectively. The lowest and highest numbers of fruits per plant in each hand-harvest were 1 and 67 fruits, respectively, belonging to genotypes 342 and 326. However, regarding shallow length, diameter, pulp thickness and, consequently, the low weight of the fruit in genotype 342, an almost low yield of this genotype was obtained in three harvests (2742.67 kg/ha). In contrast, genotype 318, despite its small number of fruits per hand-harvest (3 fruits per hand-harvest), had the highest fruit yield of 25379.20 kg Per hectare due to having fruits with large size and pulp thickness and as a result of high fruit weight. The lowest yields related to genotypes 276 and 293 belonged to C. frutescens L., with fruit yields of 17.60 and 44.00 kg/ha in three harvests. However, there was no statistically significant difference among the performance of these genotypes and the genotypes 277, 210, 282, 358, 261, 332, 394, 304, 311, 407, 321, 215, 427, 203, 342 and 200. The percentage of phenotypic and genetic variations in fruit yield was 61, 55% and the heritability of fruit yield was 81%.
Conclusion
This study evaluated a diverse collection of different species of pepper with a wide range of appearance traits. However, the most desirable and marketable characteristics of the fruit were obtained from genotypes belonging to C. annuum. However, genotypes belonging to other species, which were not addressed due to the high number of fruits per plant and resistance to pests and diseases, can play a complementary role in hybrid seed production breeding programs. Based on the results, genotypes 318 (Kapia, yellow and sweet), 287 (long, red and spicy), 348 (round, red and sweet), 272 (triangular, red and sweet), 309 (black, red and sweet) and 296 (long, red and sweet) could be introduced as cultivars after evaluating their compatibility, in terms of their high yield, suitable size fruits and marketability. In addition, because to the substantial variety of the examined population, breeding efforts might develop hybrid cultivars with unique traits.
Behrouz Moradi Ashour; Mohammad Rabiei; Behrooz Shiran; Sadollah Hooshmand
Abstract
Introduction: Pomegranate (Punica granatum L., Punicaceae family), a native Iranian horticultural plant, is used as fresh fruit and also for other products and has special economic position in the world. It is estimated that pomegranate fruit production in Iran was about 900000 tons in 2016 which provinces ...
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Introduction: Pomegranate (Punica granatum L., Punicaceae family), a native Iranian horticultural plant, is used as fresh fruit and also for other products and has special economic position in the world. It is estimated that pomegranate fruit production in Iran was about 900000 tons in 2016 which provinces of Fars, Markazi, Khorasan, Yazd and Isfahan had the highest production respectively. Iran is the center of diversity and most probably center of origin of Pomegranate, so during the years, many attempts have been done to collect different genotypes. The National Research Station of Pomegranate of Saveh has three set collections including 760 genotypes collected from all around of Iran. Assessment of genetic variation among these genotypes to use in breeding programs should be considered as first priority. Researchers use different methods to measure genetic diversity of plants including DNA markers, isozymes and morphological traits. Using morphological characteristics that are easily measured and have high heritability is a convenient tool to assess the amount of genetic diversity of plants.
Material and Methods: In order to determine genetic variation and heritability on morpho-pomological traits, pomegranate genotypes were selected from different habitats of Iran that are already planted in the collection of National Research Station of Pomegranate of Saveh in 2016. Genotypes that had similar descriptor or genotypes that had not sufficient fruit to get involved in the experiment, were excluded. Selected genotypes (156 genotypes) were evaluated based on a completely randomized design with three replications using nine morphological traits including length of calyx, width of calyx, number of seed in 100-gram aril, thickness of peel, weight of fruit, length of fruit, width of fruit, weight of peel, weight of aril. Biochemical characteristics of fruit including total soluble solids, titrable acidity, maturity index, pH, EC, anthocyanincontain and absorbable color of juice were measured for each genotype without replication (five fruit were selected randomly for each genotype). Statistical analyses including analysis of variance, correlation coefficient, and broad sense heritability, phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation were estimated using SAS 9.0 software.
Results and Discussion: Analysis of variance showed that the effect of genotypes in each trait is highly significant (p-value=0.01), indicating a wide variation among these genotypes. Considering range for each trait reveals remarkable differences between genotypes especially for number of seed in 100-gram aril and anthocyanin content. Results showed that among 9 morphological traits, aril seed (g 100 aril-1) and peel thickness, also among 7 chemical traits, anthocyanin content, absorbable color of juice and maturity index had the highest variation. The most positive and significant correlation coefficients was observed between fruits weight with length and diameter of fruit, length and diameter of calyx, aril weight, seed number (g 100 aril-1) and peel thickness. Correlation between qualitative and quantitative traits were not significant. The highest phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation was observed on fruit weight, peel thickness, seed number (g 100 aril-1) and aril weight. A high broad sense heritability was observed for aril weight (g 100 aril-1), fruit weight and peel thickness.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, there was a high genetic variation among genotypes for most traits. As it was expected, Iranian collection of pomegranate is a rich source for this plant and highly supporter for other breeding researches. High correlation coefficient of fruit weight with other morphological traits is useful for early selection of high performance genotypes. For instant, genotypes with high diameter of calyx most probably will produce high yield. There was not statistically significant correlation between morphological and biochemical characteristics. That is to say genotypes with low yield should not be excluded in further research programs because of their beneficial biochemical traits; they can be involved in crosses with high yield genotypes to improve their biochemical characteristics. Pomnograte genotypes with good quality traits are also useful for industrial, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical purposes. Results of our experiment indicate that due high broad sense heritability of aril weight, fruit weight, peel thickness and aril weight, environmental effect on these traits is less than genetic effect. Therefore, selection based on these traits could successfully be used to improve genetic base of pomegranate genotypes in the next generations. Also based on the results of this research Hasteriz- Shahdad and Domaze- Izeh genotypes were the best for soft seed, color and flavor fruit.
Ahmad Hajiali; Bahman Zahedi; Reza Darvishzadeh; Jahangir Kohpalekani Abbasi
Abstract
Introduction: Watermelon (CitrulluslanatusThunb)belongs to Cucurbita genus and Cucurbitaceaefamily. Some people know Watermelon native to India and othersthought of it as native to African countries. The greatest diversity can be seen in West Africa, China and parts of India. Near East and Mediterranean ...
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Introduction: Watermelon (CitrulluslanatusThunb)belongs to Cucurbita genus and Cucurbitaceaefamily. Some people know Watermelon native to India and othersthought of it as native to African countries. The greatest diversity can be seen in West Africa, China and parts of India. Near East and Mediterranean countries are also good places to find relatives and ancestors of watermelon. Like all Cucurbita genuscrops,, Watermelon has a variety of flowers including base, male and female separately located on one slip. In terms of production atglobal level, China is located in the first place followed by America, Iran and the Republic of Korea, respectively.
Materials and Methods: In order to evaluate genetic diversity among Iranian watermelon landraces by morphological traits, 16 landraces alongwith two commercial watermelon cultivars were planted in completely randomized block design with three replications inAgricultural Research Center of Urmia in 2013.
Morphological markers can be an effective means to determine genetic relationsamong cultivars and among selections used in watermelon breeding programs. 18 traits including cotyledon length, fruit length, fruit weight, fruit mass, fruit skin, rind thickness, flesh thickness, yield, seed length, seed width, weight of 100 seeds, vitamin C, pH, TSS, EC, chlorophyll content and plant length were assessed in the studied genotypes. During the fruit ripening,four fruits were selected randomly from each plot and according to the International Institute germplasms (IBPGR / IBGRI),solidscontent (TSS)was measured by using refractometer, pH by using pH meter, and fruit and seed weight by using digital scale. The amount of vitamin C (milligram per 100 grams) was measured using iodometry.
Results and Discussion: Results of variance analysis showed that there were significant differencesamong watermelon cultivars in terms of cotyledon length, fruit length, fruit weight, flesh weight, yield, seed length, seed width, seed weight, vitamin C, soluble solids and EC at the 1% level, while the level of significance with respect toskin weight, chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate was5%.The results also showed that there were not significant differences among the cultivars in terms of pH, skin and flesh thickness, and plant length, suggesting that there is no diversity among the masses. Based on the means comparisontable,the highestfruit length (39 cm), fruit weight (8.03 kg), fleshweight(4.3 kg), skin weight (3.36 kg) and performance rate (24926 kg in hectare) were observed in Charleston Gray.Isfahan 808 mass showed the minimum fruit length (23.66 cm);Khorasan 806 mass had the least fruit weight (3.33 kg) andskin weight (1.8 kg); and East Azerbaijan 800 and Hamedan 817masses showed the lowest fruit flesh weight (1.5 kg) and performance (13444 kg per hectare), respectively.The highest positive phenotypic correlation (0.968) was observed between fruit mass and fruit weight,whilethe highest negative correlation (-0.815) existedbetween TSS and seed length. The highest positive (0.987) and negative (-0.990) genetic correlation was foundbetween fruit weight and fruit length, and between flesh thickness and photosynthesis, respectively. The greatestheritability was related to 100-seed weight, whereas minimum heritability was due to ph. The studied accessions were classified into three different groupsby using Cluster analysis based on Ward method. Based on the intervaltable,the highest space rate was observed between groups one and three (8.985).The resultsalso showed that the maximum expected heterosis obtained in crosses between genotypes one and three.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this research, improved varieties (Charleston Gray and Crimson Sweet) had the highest level of performance, TSS, fruit weight and flesh weight compared to the native masses.
