Assessing genetic diversity of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) germplasm based on agronomic traits and SDS-PAGE analysis

Forty-six accessions of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) were collected form various cities of Pakistan and were germinated for different quantitative traits. The sowing was done in four/two meters length and width rows on 3rd week (21-11-2006) of November. It was carried out in 3 beds using drill and seeds were put in the grooves created by the drill and covered by soil. Each two rows were given separate accession number. The recommended agronomic practices were used to raise the crop till maturity. Five plants from each accession were tagged for evaluation of different quantitative traits. The data recorded was analyzed, the using software "SPSS, version 10.0". Forty-six accessions were selected and their seeds were ground for SDS-PAGE analysis to investigate variations in total seed protein of different accessions. It is concluded that among 46 accessions, 21425 gave maximum performance for number of primary branches / plant number of secon d branch / plant number of capsules / plant and biomass. Accession 20884 displayed highest mean performance for days to flowering, plant height, days to maturity, biomass, seed yield, number of capsules/ plant, number of secondary branches/ plant and number of primary branches/ plant. Accession 21907 expressed maximum seed yield, biomass and seed index among the 46 accessions. Days to maturity, plant height, biomass and harvest index were highly significantly correlated with seed yield. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that accession number 29 exhibited variation in various bands, while the other accessions had similar bands among the 46 accessions. The SDS-PAGE analysis of the total seed protein revealed low diversity for Linum sp. This was due to the fact that SDS-PAGE is not a powerful tool for all species, particularly for intraspecific variation. If some other type of molecular technique applied to this material would reveal different results. As SDS-PAGE analysis of the total s eed protein is not considered a powerful tool for determining intraspecific variation, however in the present study 46 accessions of Linseed revealed low intensity and high intensity bands. Therefore SDS-PAGE may not be recommended for above type of study.