Morpho-agronomic and leaf anatomical traits in Coffeacanephora genotypes

Abstract

Genetic variability is the basis for coffee genetic breeding. This study evaluated the potential of leaf anatomy and morpho-agronomic traits in studies of genetic variability in C. canephoracultivars. Ten genotypes were distributed in randomized block designs with three replicates. Significant differences among genotypes were detected by F-test (P < 0.05) for 13 of 15 evaluated traits. These results evidenced the heterogeneity of the studied cultivars, which is essential in composition of genetic basis in breeding programs. The Scott-Knott test detected variability among genotypes, grouped into up to four mean groups. Leaf anatomy traits presented the largest variations. Five out of seven leaf anatomy traits presented heritability higher than 80%, with emphasis on stomatal density (95.69%) and stomatal pore length (92.72%). Positive correlations were observed among morpho-agronomic and anatomic traits. Cluster analysis used the Mahalanobis general distance (D2) as a measure of genetic dissimilarity and divided the genotypes into two distinct groups. The inclusion of leaf anatomic traits to characterize C. canephoragenotypes may assist plant breeders with better genetic discrimination and with greater security in plant selection when composing cultivars.

Potential of Grain Physical Traits to the Study of Variability in Maize

“…Thus, the identification of traits that can be used as phenotypic markers capable of accessing the variability of a larger set of genes is important to enhance studies of genetic divergence between accessions in different crops [11][12][13]. In addition to contributing to a better understanding of genetic variation between individuals, some secondary traits can also help genetic gains in traits of interest through indirect selection [14,15].…”