Research Article

Phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental correlations between characters in onion segregate populations obtained under different generations

Published: November 29, 2017
Genet. Mol. Res. 16(4): gmr16039838 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4238/gmr16039838
Cite this Article:
D.L.M. Machado, J.A. de Freitas, J.M.Q. Luz, G.M. Maciel, A.P.O. Nogueira, E. di Camillo (2017). Phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental correlations between characters in onion segregate populations obtained under different generations. Genet. Mol. Res. 16(4): gmr16039838. https://doi.org/10.4238/gmr16039838
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Abstract

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is the third most valuable
vegetable crop worldwide and the third most produced in Brazil. The
knowledge of the nature and the value of the relationship between the
traits of interest is very important, since it is possible to select a main
trait, with low heritability or difficult measurement, obtaining higher
genetic gain faster than with direct selection. The aim of this work was
to estimate the genotypic, phenotypic and environmental correlations
between the characteristics of the plant, the bulb and seed production in
onion segregating populations obtained from different breeding
methods. Most of the estimations of the genetic correlations (rg) were
higher than the phenotypic (rp) and the environmental (re) ones. The
genotypic, phenotypic and environmental correlation coefficients for
plant and bulb characteristics were low, except for plant vigour and its
components (plant height, neck diameter and plant architecture). The
phenotypic and genotypic correlations revealed an association between
the traits related to the plant vigour in onion, nevertheless, it was not
reflected in the bulb and seed production, in the two years evaluated. The
traits “Seed setting” and “Resistance in Alternaria” can be useful in the
indirect selection for “Seed mass per umbel.
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