Genetic diversity among coffee tree progenies Big Coffee VL based on growth traits and production

Abstract

In a coffee plantation of a coffee 'Acaiá' cultivar (Coffea arabica), on the Midwest of Minas Gerais in Capitólio city, a different kind of coffee tree was found (1989), possibly due to a mutation. It presented larger leaves and grains than those of conventional coffee trees and was named as "Big Coffee VL." The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic diversity of Big Coffee VL progenies cultivated at Universidade Federal de Lavras, by evaluating growth and production traits, based on genetic distances and clusters. The experiment was established in a lattice design with 100 progenies of this coffee tree and 23 repetitions. Traits evaluated were vigor, plant height, stem diameter, node number of plagiotropic branches, pair numbers of plagiotropic branches, and productivity. Genetic divergence was evaluated by multivariate procedures: Mahalanobis generalized distance, clustering methods, and principal component analysis. Genetic distances were estimated using Mahalanobis distance and presented variations from 0.04 to 18.70. The most similar progenies were P23 and P29 and the most dissimilar progenies were G8 and P14. The progenies were divided into three groups, with P14 present as an isolated group. Thus, it was possible to observe the existence of genetic variability among the progenies of Big Coffee VL, which can be used in breeding programs to increase grain size. Progenies G8 and P14 presented the highest genetic distance, and were the most suitable for future integration of crossings in plant breeding programs.

Big Coffee Vl.: Seed Desiccation Tolerance, Sieve Classification, and Physiological Quality

“…medium, and Big Coffee VL. large, for the purpose of beginning studies on this coffee plant (CASTANHEIRA et al, 2016;SILVA et al, 2016).…”

Physiological aspects and yield in coffee progenies with large beans

“…They were: "Small" group, consisting of 32 progenies; "Medium" group, with 36 progenies and 32 progenies belonging to the "Large" group. For the current study, 12 progenies more vigorous and with higher yield were selected in relation to evaluations and results obtained by Silva et al (2016).…”

“…Posteriorly, cultivars with agronomic interest characteristics were achieved: yield, tolerance or resistance to pathogens and cup quality (Carvalho et al, 2008). Currently, yield is still the pivot of breeding programs, together with other characteristics, such as: multiple resistance to pathogens, pests and tolerance to abiotic stress, besides providing the niche markets with differentiated beverage quality and large beans (Ferreira et al, 2013;Silva et al, 2016;Venturin et al, 2013).…”

“…Segregation was observed between plants, chiefly for the height and size of leaves and fruits. Therefore, a classification like "Small", "Medium" and "Large" was proposed (Silva et al, 2016).…”

“…In 2012, beginning with the seed collection from Piumhi progenies, a large-bean coffee breeding program began at the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), which is in the evaluation phase. In recent studies, even greater genetic variability among progenies was observed, some of which are promising for breeding programs that intend beyond enhancing bean size (Silva et al, 2016) and tolerance to abiotic stress.…”