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      Characterization of diverse germplasm of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) using agro-morphological traits and AFLP molecular markers

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      BHATTARAI-THESIS-2017.pdf (1.875Mb)
      Date
      2017-07-24
      Author
      Bhattarai, Surendra 1989-
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
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      Abstract
      Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) is a perennial forage legume, widely distributed in northern temperate regions of the world. Unlike alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), sainfoin does not cause bloat in grazing animals due to the presence of condensed tannins. However, this species is still an underdeveloped legume, with limited information available on genetic diversity, agronomic and phenotypic characteristics. The objectives of this study were: 1) to evaluate genetic variation and relationships among 38 sainfoin accessions using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers; 2) to measure agro-morphological traits and nutritive value of the 38 sainfoin accessions; 3) to understand the effects of seed size, seed pod removal and temperature on sainfoin seed germination. A field plots of 38 sainfoin accessions were planted in July 2014 using a randomized complete block design with four replications near Saskatoon, SK, Canada. Five AFLP primer pairs were employed to genotype 367 plants and 1,042 polymorphic AFLP bands were detected. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that 84.1% of the total molecular variation was present within accessions, while 15.0% and 0.9% of the variation resided among accessions and regions (continents), respectively. Data were collected in the growing seasons of 2015 and 2016. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant variations for all measured traits among the accessions (P<0.05). The 2-yr mean data revealed winter survival of sainfoin accessions ranged from 20–94%. Similarly, accessions showed a wide range of plant height from 37–70 cm. Forage dry matter (DM) yield ranged from 74–239 g plant−1 and seed yield ranged from 5–64 g plant−1. Similarly, wide variations were observed for nutritive values. Forage DM yield had a positive correlation with plant height (r=0.82, P<0.001), stem number (r=0.75, P<0.001), and 1000-seed weight (r=0.29, P<0.001), whereas negative correlations were found with days to flower (r=−0.57, P<0.001) and crude protein (CP) concentration (r=−0.62, P<0.001) were observed. Based on agronomic performance and nutritive value traits, the accessions were grouped into three major clusters. Seed germination of sainfoin varied significantly (P=0.047) at different temperatures with the highest final germination at 20/10°C (day/night temperature) and 15/5°C temperatures. Seed pod removal significantly (P<0.001) enhanced seed germination. The seed germination experiments suggested the possibility of decreasing seed size without affecting germination percentage of sainfoin seed within the same accession. In conclusion, the information obtained from this study on agro-morphological traits, nutritive values and genetic diversity among the 38 sainfoin accessions will be useful for future sainfoin breeding programs.
      Degree
      Master of Science (M.Sc.)
      Department
      Plant Sciences
      Program
      Plant Science
      Supervisor
      Biligetu, Bill
      Committee
      Coulman, Bruce E; Beattie, Aaron D; Pozniak, Curtis J; Jefferson, Paul
      Copyright Date
      May 2017
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/7977
      Subject
      Sainfoin
      legume forage
      genetic diversity
      amplified fragment length polymorphism
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