Background Lentil is a multipurpose annual legume crop grown in many environments of Ethiopia and recognized as the second center of diversity in the country. However, there is limited information on genetic variation, association of yield, yield-attributing traits, and protein content of lentil in the country. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the genetic variability, traits association, direct and indirect effects of yield-related traits and protein content on seed yield of lentil genotypes. Methods A total of 64 lentil genotypes were evaluated for morpho-agronomic traits and protein content in an 8 × 8 simple lattice design at Debre Berhan Agricultural Research Center in 2018. Results The analysis of variance displayed significant differences among the genotypes for all traits indicating the existence of variability and potential for selection of the genotypes for desirable traits. High heritability and high genetic advance were observed for seed yield (96.57%, 81.32%), above-ground biomass (79.03%, 57.99%), days to 50% flowering (70.97%, 23.17%), and the number of seeds per pod (69.41%, 38.23%), respectively. High heritability and moderate genetic advance were detected in plant height (62.63%, 19.77%) and protein content (73.2%, 17.13%), respectively. A positive and significant correlations was observed in phenotypic and genotypic levels of seed yield and above-ground biomass (r = 0.90, 0.93), number of seed per pods (r = 0.79, 0.85), number of pods per plant (r = 0.52, 0.64), plant height (r = 0.49, 0.55), harvest index (r = 0.38, 0.45), secondary branches (r = 0.48, 0.56) and protein content (r = 0.24, 0.26), respectively. Above-ground biomass, harvest index, secondary branches, plant height, number of pods per plant, and protein content were exerted positive and direct effect on yield at phenotypic and genotypic level. This suggested that seed yield, above-ground biomass, harvest index, number of pods per plant, number of seed per pod, plant height, secondary branches, and protein content are the most important traits in selection of lentil improvement. Conclusion The study results showed that the presence of wide range of genetic variations among lentil genotypes with desirable traits in above-ground biomass, harvest index, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, plant height, seed yield, and protein content. This variation among traits could be used to develop varieties through selection and hybridization for lentil seed improvement.

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Understanding the genetic relationships and diversity of Ethiopian lentil in relation to lentil from other countries is important in attempting to widen the genetic base of germplasm in the country. The objectives of this study were to generate information on agromorphological variability, to estimate PCV, GCV, heritability, and expected genetic advance of quantitative traits of lentil. 228 genotypes with different population types were studied for 11 agromorphological traits and rust disease severity score for two seasons (2011-2012) over three locations. The analysis of variance showed highly significant variations (P≤0.01) among genotypes for all characters studied. As per genetic parameter values, four groups of character were deduced. It is inferred that the exotic genotypes introduced from ICARDA showed rich genetic bases for 100-seed weight, number of seeds per plant, seed weight per plant, resistance source for rust, and high yielder in high yielding environment, where rainfall is not a major problem. Use the Ethiopian accessions for developing cultivars that could be used in double cropping and drought prone areas.

This paper attempts to evaluate the banding patterns of non-gluten protein isolates from the grain of durum wheat varieties. Under reduced condition, polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis has revealed a number of different sized albumin and globulin protein bands. The electrophoretic pattern of globulin showed more polymorphisms than that of albumin. High polymorphism, both in band intensity and occurrence, was observed between 15 kDa and 35 kDa. Most of the protein bands were scored in the range of 10 kDa and 85 kDa in the two protein fractions. At a cutoff point 2.5, cluster analysis based on the SDS-PAGE of globulin proteins classified the durum wheat varieties into three major family groups. Generally, the experiment showed the suitability and usefulness of globulin protein fractions as a genetic marker in discriminating durum wheat genotypes.

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