Path analysis of the relationships between seed yield and some morphological and phenological traits in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

Abstract

Path analysis was performed on plant characters of six safflower genotypes grown in a two year field experiment to determine for seed yield, the direct and indirect effects of the following traits: total biomass, stem yield, number of primary branches/plant, number of secondary branches/plant, number of seeds/m 2 , number of seeds/capitulum, number of capitula/plant, capitulum diameter, 1000-seed weight, seed weight/capitulum, distance between ground level and the first fertile branch, plant height, number of days to the beginning of branching, number of days to the beginning of flowering, number of days to 50% flowering, number of days to full flowering and flowering duration. Seed yield was significantly correlated with the following traits: total biomass, stem yield, capitulum diameter, 1000-seed weight, seed weight/capitulum, distance between ground level and the first fertile branch, number of days to the beginning of branching and flowering duration. Total biomass, seed weight/capitulum, distance between ground level and the first fertile branch, 1000-seed weight and flowering duration had substantial direct effects, in that order, on enhancement of seed yield. The significant positive correlation coefficient of capitulum diameter with seed yield resulted from positive indirect effects of total biomass, seed weight/capitulum and 1000-seed weight. Conversely, the significant negative correlations between number of days to the beginning of branching and distance between ground level and the first fertile branch and seed yield resulted from negative indirect effects of the same three traits. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that 94% of the total variation in seed yield could be explained by variation in total biomass and by number of days to the beginning of branching (84 and 10%, respectively). Results suggest that total biomass and number of days to the beginning of branching are primary selection criteria for improving seed yield in safflower.

Evaluating Selection Methods for Carthamus Interspecific Crosses under Different Water Conditions

“…In TO and PT populations, selecting plants with higher CD results in genotypes with more NSC and eventually higher SY. Other reports also indicated that plants with many branches produced a large number of capitula in safflower (Mokhtassi-Bidgoli et al, 2006). These results indicate the high potential of these traits as efficient selection criteria for screening superior genotypes under water stress and non-stress conditions in the field.…”

The Use of Wild Relatives of Safflower to Increase Genetic Diversity for Fatty Acid Composition and Drought Tolerance

“…Indirect selection through a second trait with higher heritability as indicator for improving the target trait under stress environments has been recommended (Bänziger and Lafitte, 1997). In safflower, capitulum diameter, number of capitula per plant, number of branches per plant, plant height, and number of seeds per capitulum were identified as highly correlated with seed yield (Mokhtassi Bidgoli et al, 2006;Arslan, 2007;Elfadl et al, 2010). However, the possibility of indirect selection to improve seed yield in interspecific population under water deficit condition is still poorly understood.…”

Productivity and Quality of Diverse Ripe Pasture Grass Fodder Depends on the Method of Soil Cultivation

“…This could be attributed to the ability of legumes to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, thereby promoting active formation of protein substances. The developmental phase in which grass is mowed also has an effect on the chemical composition of feed (Balayev et al, 2011;Bidgoli et al, 2006;Kolisnyk et al, 2019).…”