Estimation of spatial genetic structure in inter-regional populations of Trigonella foenum-graceum L. species through phenotypic variation and seed protein profiling

Abstract

(2018): Estimation of spatial genetic structure in interregional populations of Trigonella foenum-graceum L. species through phenotypic variation and seed protein profiling.-Genetika, Vol 50, No.1, 171-185. Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graceum L.) is an important legume crop mainly grown for its pharmacological and nutritional value in Mediterranean region, western Asia, Indian sub-continent and Africa. We evaluated 110 fenugreek accessions from diverse agro-ecological regions i.e. South Asia, Mediterranean, Middle East, Europe and Africa for phenotypic divergence and seed protein based variation. Significant agromorphological variability was revealed by germplasm viz-a`-viz traits e.g days to flower initiation, days to flower completion, yield plant-1 , plant habit, vigor, flower colour and plant height. Multivariate approach of Principal Component Analysis and Euclidean distance generated dendrogram distributed all accessions into 6 and 9 distinct groups for morpho-agronomic dissimilarities, respectively. Four principal components (PCs) with Eigen value higher than unity (E>1), represented 65% variability in germplasm. Geographical distribution was evident by scatter plot as germplasm figured in 6 different sub-populations. Iranian accessions were most diverse, showing up in all subpopulations followed by Indian, Turkish, Ethiopian, Pakistani and Egyptian accessions which ranked in 5,4,4,3 and 3 sub-populations, respectively. Electrophoretic pattern of 172