Investigating of Genetic Diversity of some Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) Landraces in Iran for Phenological, Morphological and Agronomic Traits

Coriander is one of the important medicinal plants in the world which has been used widely in medicinal, cosmetic and health care industries.

In order to investigate the genetic diversity of this plant in Iran, 20 Coriander populations were collected from different parts of the country and evaluated out using randomized complete block design with three replications in Karaj Vegetable Research Center of Horticultural Sciences Research Institute in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 crop years. During the growth period, the phenological, morphological and physiological characteristics were recorded. Days to generation, Largest basal leaf length, Basal leaf number, Days to full flowering, Days to Maturity, Plant height, Umbel number per plant, Fertile umbel number per plant, Unfertile umbel number per plant, Umbellate number per umbel, Seed number per umbel, thousand seed weight, Grain yeild per plant, Biomass per plant, Harvest index per plant, Grain yield, Biomass and Harvest index traits were investigated. Data were analyzed using SAS and SPSS software and for Grouping of the population, the cluster analysis was performed by Ward’s method and factor analysis was done using the Variomax rotation method.

According to the results of analysis of variance, there were significant differences between the studied populations in terms of most traits include the largest basal leaf length, basal leaf number, plant height, umbel number per plant, fertile umbel number per plant, unfertile umbel number per plant, umbellate number per umbel, grain number per umbel, 1000-seed weight, seed weight per plant, biomass per plant, harvest index per plant, grain yield, biomass and harvest index. Phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation were high for most of the traits which indicated the high diversity of these traits in the studied populations. The heritability in broad-sense of the traits largest basal leaf length, basal leaf number, plant height, umbel number per plant, fertile umbel number per plant, umbellate number per umbel, seed number per umbel, 1000-seed weight, seed weight per plant, biomass per plant, harvest index per plant, grain yield, biomass and harvest index were high, which makes the response to the selection of these traits expected in breeding programs. Cluster analysis classified 20 studied populations into five groups.

According to the results, the Kermanshah population had the highest grain yield in two years. The higher yield of this populaion was due to having the highest number of umbels per plant, number of fertile umbels, number of umbels per umbel and weight of 1000 seeds. Also, the traits of the length of the longest basal leaf, the number of basal leaves, the number of umbels per plant, the number of fertile umbels per plant, the number of umbels per umbel, the number of seeds per umbel, the weight of 1000 seeds, the yield of seeds per plant, the biomass of a single plant, the harvest index of a single plant, seed yield, biomass and harvest index had high heritability, which indicates the high role of genetic factors and the low influence of environmental factors on the control of these traits.