Characterisation of buckwheat (Fagopyrum spp.) diversity of the northwestern Himalayas

Abstract

Content Knowledge about genetic variability parameters is imperative for improving crop plants for traits of economic importance. This paper reports the characterisation of a large germplasm set of an underutilised pseudocereal Buckwheat endemic to northwestern Himalayas in order to elucidate the nature of variability as well as identify trait specific genotypes for use in buckwheat breeding programmes. Aim The major aim was to estimate the genetic variability of yield and related traits in diverse germplasm lines of buckwheat collected from different regions of the north-western Himalayas. Methods The material was evaluated in a randomised complete block design with five replications at two different locations in SKUAST-K, Shuhama and MAR & ES Izmarg, Gurez, during the years 2020 and 2021. For assessing diversity patterns, the clustering of the germplasm from both locations was done by Tocher’s method. Key results The results indicated significant variability in the buckwheat germplasm for all morphological traits across locations. The phenotypic cofficient of variation and genotypic coefficients of variation (PCV, GCV), broad sense heritability and genetic advance values varied between locations. Pooled across locations, the highest PCV values were recorded for number of primary branches. Heritability ranged from low for number of secondary branches to medium for days to 50% flowering. Conclusion The present study provided valuable insights about the variability and trait diversity in buckwheat germplasm under Northwestern Himalayan conditions. Implications The information on variability parameters can be harnessed to develop an effective breeding strategy for improving buckwheat for traits of economic interest.

Genome‐wide SNP discovery and genotyping delineates potential QTLs underlying major yield‐attributing traits in buckwheat

“…Twelve different morphological and seed quality traits were evaluated at physiological maturity as detailed in Naik et al. (2022) (Figure 1). In general, the date of flowering and date of maturity were found to be the most significantly differing among genotypes at two locations (Table S2).…”

“…The morphological observations were recorded for both qualitative (flower color, leaf color, leaf margin color, stem color, petiole color, leaf shape, plant growth type, mature seed color, immature seed color, seed shape, and seed surface) and quantitative traits (plant height, number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, leaf number, leaf blade, leaf blade length, leaf blade width, petiole length, inflorescence length, days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, yield per plant (g), and number of seeds per plant) at physiological maturity as described in Naik et al. (2022). The standardization of phenotypic data, estimation of genetic distance based on Euclidean coefficient (EUCLID), PCA, Shannon–Weaver diversity index, and cluster analysis/tree construction among different genotypes were executed using Windostat 8.0, NTSYS‐pc V2.1 and POPGENE V1.…”

“…A total of 162 buckwheat genotypes were evaluated for quantitative (morphological and seed quality traits) and qualitative traits at two different locations (SKUAST-K, Shuhama and MAR&ES, SKUAST-K, Izmarg, Gurez) during 2020 and 2021, respectively. Twelve different morphological and seed quality traits were evaluated at physiological maturity as detailed in Naik et al (2022) (Figure 1). In general, the date of flowering and date of maturity were found to be the most significantly differing among genotypes at two locations (Table S2).…”

Agro-Morphological and Molecular Characterization Reveal Deep Insights in Promising Genetic Diversity and Marker-Trait Associations in Fagopyrum esculentum and Fagopyrum tataricum

“…However, the genetic diversity of the available germplasm is poorly characterised, which hinders the use and selection of elite accessions for breeding programs [ 9 ]. Indeed, most previous studies have been conducted in local collections from hotspot regions such as China [ 29 ], India [ 30 , 31 , 32 ], Nepal [ 33 ], and Korea [ 34 , 35 ]. Some other studies were conducted in global collections but used only morphological traits [ 18 , 36 ] or only molecular tools such as AFLP [ 37 ], SSR markers [ 38 ] and genotyping by sequencing (GBS) [ 39 ].…”

Crop wild relatives: the road to climate change adaptation

“…Among the five studied species, Crambe steveniana and Crambe tataria were closely related. Naik et al (2022) identified significant variation in germplasm lines of under-utilised pseudocereal buckwheat grown in different locations of the northwestern Himalayan region. Among all the studied traits, number of primary branches showed the highest phenotypic coefficients of variation.…”