VALBONA HOBDARI*. BELUL GIXHARI
Institute of Plant Genetic Resources, Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania
Corresponding author e-mail: vhobdari@ubt.edu.al
Abstract
Assessment of genetic diversity of grass pea (Lathyrus sativum) genotypes stored in Albanian genebank, was carried out in the Experimental field of Agricultural University of Tirana, during two growing seasons. Twelve local forms of grass pea’s collection, evaluating 15 qualitative traits with high inheritance degree, were used for the assessment of variability between qualitative traits and genetic diversity of Lathyrus sativum genotypes. The grass pea collection in genebank is a modest valuable group of legumes species for animal production, but, little is known about the extent and nature of the variability of the species. The aim of the study was the evaluation of the major qualitative traits, important for characterizing the grass pea genotypes, and determining the potential of this forage species in agriculture. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (ward method) identified the variances of the principal components (PC) and the proportion of the total variance each factor accounts for and range grass pea genotypes into three different cluster groups. Study identified the qualitative traits with agronomic interest which account for genetic diversity and the demarcation of distinguishable morphological groups will facilitate the maintenance and agronomic evaluation of the collections.
Keywords: Cluster analysis, grass pea genotypes, principal components
