Numerical taxonomy of Italian maize populations: fatty acid composition and morphological traits

Camussi, A.; Ottaviano, E. . Istituto di Genetica; Jellum, M.D.

Numerical taxonomy of Italian maize populations: fatty acid composition and morphological traits

1980

Camussi, A. | Ottaviano, E. (Milan Univ. (Italy). Istituto di Genetica) | Jellum, M.D. (Georgia Univ. (USA))

A new classification of 102 maize populations extracted from the Italian germplasm collection, according to morphological and geographical criteria, is reported. The discrimination of populations is made according to the fatty acid composition of kernels, in order to improve the classification obtained by means of morphological trait analysis. Data of individual kernels were analyzed through multivariate statistical methods (Canonical Analysis): similar populations were clustered according to the results of Euclidean distance analysis. The populations show a wide variability of fatty acid composition. It is pointed out that there is an overall coincidence between location of original and the clusters of populations obtained, while a weak correlation between the morphological characteristics and the fatty acid composition is assessed. The clear usefulness of fatty acid composition as an index of the main differentiation of the populations is discussed

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