Morphological and seed yield characteristics of orchardgrass ecotypes of Eastern Anatolia Region

Abstract

Present research was carried out to assess the genetic diversity in orchardgrass ecotypes of Eastern Anatolia region and to determine the genotypes available for breeding. Morphological and seed yield characteristics of 25 orchardgrass ecotypes, collected from natural vegetations of Ağrı, Ardahan, Artvin, Bayburt, Bingöl, Erzurum, Kars and Muş provinces of the region, were determined. After germination, the orchardgrass seedlings were transferred to the experimental field area of Eastern Anatolia Agricultural Research Institute in early spring of 2010. The 10 plants of each ecotype were investigated regarding plant height, number of nodes, node spacing, leaf length, leaf width, length of panicle axis, seed yield parameters of orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) in 2011-2012. Of all investigated parameters, seed yield (g) and plant height (cm) exhibited a greatest variation. Based on the Principal Components Analysis, orchardgrass genotypes were divided into 3 principal groups. Specified parameters were able to explain 72,666% of current variation. The first component representing 34,611% of total variation was composed of leaf length and leaf width; the second component representing 21,101% of total variation was plant height, and third component representing 16,953% of total variation was number of nodes

Keywords

• orchardgrass, Eastern Anatolia, morphological biodiversity