Variations in phenotypic traits are important for onion genetic improvement. The aim of this study was to identify the phenotypic traits of temporary genetic resources and the best accessions for the development of onion breeding programs. Sixteen phenotypic traits of 79 onion accessions were studied. The descriptive statistics of phenotypic traits exhibited a high variation in onion accessions. Among the 79 evaluated accessions, 64.55% had a large bulb neck width and 44.30% had a circular bulb shape. Principal component analysis showed that six principal components (PCs) accounted for 72.65% of the total variation. The main factors contributing to PC1 were bulb weight, equatorial and bulb polar diameters, plant height, and degree of splitting into bulblets, whereas those contributing to PC2 were the bulb color of the epidermal cells of the fleshy scales and color of the dry skin on the bulb. The accessions were classified into three groups—clusters 1, 2, and 3. Cluster 2 accessions were the most suitable for selecting large and circular bulb-shaped onion cultivars. The phenotypic variation observed in this study may help to select potential accessions for breeding new onion cultivars.
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
Acknowledgements
Conflicts of Interest
References