Characterization of dissimilarity among varieties in Brazilian maize germplasm

Abstract

There is an increasing and important demand for broader qualitative and quantitative traits of agronomic characters in Brazilian maize germplasm. Nine landraces plus four commercial maize varieties and fifteen characters of agronomic importance were studied with the goal of characterizing the yield potential and genetic variability, using multivariate techniques. In fact, we aimed to identify promising sources of variability for genetic improvement. A random block design with six replications was adopted, compising of maize genotypes as treatment. Canonical discriminant analysis and Tocher's optimization clustering method, using the overall distance of Mahalanobis (D2) as a measure of dissimilarity, were employed. Genetic dissimilarity was detected among the nine landraces and four commercial maize varieties. The characters with higher importance were: leaf angle, ear insertion height, height, grain yield, number of rows in the ear and mass of 100 grains. The hybrid AS1551, BRSPlanalto, AS3466, CD308 and the landraces populations Amarelão, Branco Roxo índio, Caiano Rajado and Criolão presented high grain yield, indicating the importance of such varieties for maize breeding programs and/or indication of these for small farmers.