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Comparing results of different genetic diversity estimates can be useful in parental selection for plant breeders. Forty winter wheat cultivars, from three Croatian breeding centres and four foreign countries, were used to utilize and compare agronomic, morphologic and molecular based genetic diversity estimates. Ten morphologic descriptors according to UPOV guidelines and eight agronomic traits were used to establish phenotypic data. Molecular data consisted of 26 SSR and four combinations of AFLP markers, covering all three wheat genomes. Agromorphologic data showed variability especially regarding plant height (CV=18.44%), yield (CV=22.02%), and ear emergence (range=8). Discriminant analysis confirmed grouping among cultivars was mostly influenced by number of days to heading and yield. The four AFLP primer combinations and 26 SSR markers yielded 108 polymorphic bands. The UPGMA based on phenotypic data, arranged cultivars in four clusters, with one distinctive outlier, cultivar U1. The UPGMA based on molecular data also arranged cultivars in four clusters, with one distinctive outlier, cultivar Antonius. The similarities based on all four genetic diversity estimates reflected, on average, the degree of relatedness of cultivars used. No correlations between phenotypic and molecular data were found implying that both types of data should be used for genetic diversity estimates in order to cover wider variability between tested cultivars.

This study aimed to analyze the seasonal dynamics of sugar beet leaf and root yield and quality in different plant populations and the nitrogen fertilization rate. The field trials were set as four different planting densities (60,000 to 140,000 plants ha−1) and three different spring nitrogen fertilization rates: no fertilization, pre-sowing (45 kg ha−1 N), and pre-sowing with top dressing (99 kg ha−1 N in 2014 and 85.5 kg ha−1 N in 2015. The changes of leaf growth were done measuring leaf area (LA), leaf area index (LAI), specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf area ratio (LAR). The highest LAI in 2014 was determined on 30 July at 140,000 plants ha−1 (9.35 m2 m−1) and in 2015 on 20 June at 100,000 plants ha−1 (4.83 m2 m−2). In both years, the SLA and LAR was highest at the end of May. In relation to plant density, higher plant densities had on average the highest root yield, sucrose content, and white sugar yield. In both years, pre-sowing with top dressing spring nitrogen fertilization resulted in the highest root (95.0 t ha−1) and white sugar yield (11.4 t ha−1), whereas the highest sucrose content was after pre-sowing fertilization (14.9%).

Izvorni znanstveni članak Original scientific paper SAŽETAK Cilj je ovog istraživanja bio procijeniti genetsku varijabilnost odabranih linija soje u svojstvima kvalitete zrna utvrđivanjem raznolikosti fenotipske ekspresije za masu 1000 zrna te koncentraciju bjelančevina i ulja u zrnu. Tijekom tri vegetacijske sezone (2010.-2012.), na Poljoprivrednom institutu Osijek postavljen je poljski pokus s 22 linije soje, u 2 ponavljanja po slučajnome bloknome rasporedu. Svake godine pokusa nakon žetve određena je masa 1000 zrna, koncentracija bjelančevina i koncentracija ulja u zrnu soje, a statistička obrada rezultata tih analiza uključivala je izračun standardnih mjera varijacije i analizu varijance. Nakon završene analize podataka, utvrđena je raznolikost istraživanoga biljnoga materijala u fenotipskoj ekspresiji svojstava kvalitete zrna, odnosno potvrđeno je postojanje genetske varijabilnosti uz statistički značajan utjecaj genotipa i godine.

Isoflavones are nutraceuticals with many different medical benefits found abundantly in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) seeds. The prerequisite of utilising this valuable source of bioactive compounds and creating quality stock for the pharmaceutical and functional food industries is the screening of available soybean germplasm for isoflavone content. The objectives of this research were to determine the isoflavone concentrations (total isoflavones, daidzein, genistein, glycitein) in 22 high-yielding soybean genotypes, to investigate their variability and explore the effect of different weather conditions on isoflavone phenotypes. Field trials were set up as a randomised complete block design with two replicates in three consecutive years (2010-2012) at the Agricultural Institute Osijek (Osijek, Croatia). Chosen genotypes belonged to 00-II maturity groups (MGs) suitable for growing in almost all European regions. Results showed the existence of genetic diversity among the tested plant material. The influence of genotype and year were both statistically significant. The divergence determined by the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and confirmed by the pair-wise similarity based on the Euclidean distance, confirmed that this set of genotypes was suitable for the use in future crossing 48