Grouping rice recombinant inbred lines using cluster and principal component analysis methods

To study the genetic diversity and grouping of rice recombinant inbred lines (RILs), 144 RILs derived from a cross between two Iranian rice varieties, Nemat and Hashemi, were evaluated in Rice Research Institute of Iran, Rasht, Iran, in two crop seasons, 2018 and 2019. The experiment was carried out based on augmented design with four varieties (two parents, Hashemi and Nemat, and two other varieties, Ali Kazemi and Khazar) as control treatments in randomize complete block design with three replications. The results of data analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference among rice genotypes for all studied traits. The highest coefficient of variation in both years was observed for panicle exertion and grain yield, respectively, and the lowest for milling ratio. Comparison of means showed that some lines were superior to others in terms of yield and other important agronomic traits. Cluster analysis based on the average of two years data grouped the studied genotypes into four clusters. The results of principal component analysis showed that five independent principal components explained about 82% of the total variation and the related two dimensional plot also classified the studied genotypes into three groupes. According to the results of comparison of means, cluster analysis and principal component analysis, the RILs 157, 113, 114, 142 and 130 with the highest grain yield and the lowest early maturity were selected as the superior lines in this study and can be used to introduce cultivar and/or hybrid production in future breeding programs.