Abstract-Genetic diversity in vegetative traits of utazi…

ABSTRACT: Utazi (Gongronema latifolia Benth.) clones obtained from some localities of Southeastern Nigeria were used to establish a research field in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The extent of genetic diversity and selections on the vegetative traits were determined. Results obtained showed diverse genetic base of the clones in the vegetative traits. Higher genetic variability was observed in leaf area/plant, length of the longest vine/plant and number of leaves/plant in the clones. However, significant environmental effect on length of the longest vine/plant and number of vines/plant resulted in lower broad sense heritability estimate value for the traits. The broad sense heritability estimate for size of the cordate base, leaf area, breadth, and length are high ranging from 74–86 %. The year had no significant effect on the traits with high broad sense heritability. Strong positive correlation was observed between length of breadth and leaf area (r = 0.97; n = 46). The principal component analysis indicated that the vegetative traits of the species could be classified based on the leaf area determined by leaf length, breadth and size of the cordate base as well as the quantity of leaves on a clone. The GGE biplot analysis revealed the pattern clones were distinctly positioned; clone EBS-15-NKALAGU had the highest level of all the attributes measured, while EBS-16-ABAKALIKI had the least. Hence, clones EBS-15-NKALAGU, ENS-08-MBU and ENS-12-0KUTU could be selected for improvement and production purposes because they rated high in the vegetative traits with high genetic effects in their expression over the two years. Key wordsGenetic diversity- Gongronema latifolia -heritability-selection-vegetative traits