The cultivation of onion in Brazil has a relevant socioeconomic contribution. Despite the potential, there are few onion breeding programs for tropical conditions. One of the major obstacles is related to the complexity during the selection steps, since in onion, quantitative characters and low heritability predominate. For this reason, the purpose of this study was to assess the dynamics of expression between onion line traits based on phenotypic and genotypic correlations. Four sets of onion genotypes were assessed, comprising both advanced and segregating lines. The traits assessed were plant vigor, diameter of pseudostem, plant architecture, plant cycle, average bulb mass, bulb firmness and bulb postharvest. Phenotypic and genotypic correlations were calculated. Path analysis provided the estimate of the direct and indirect effects based on ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 19 (3): gmr18636