Evaluating and Characterizing Safflower (Carthamus Tinctorius L.) Germplasm

Download or read book Evaluating and Characterizing Safflower (Carthamus Tinctorius L.) Germplasm written by Samer Ali Khalifeh and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The objectives of this research were to study morphological characteristics of safflower accessions collected from different parts of the world, to determine the yield potential, and to describe the extent of biodiveristy of the collection. Germination, speed of germination and germination elasticity were tested under varying levels of moisture stress. Seed oil content was also determined. Molecular characterization, using RAPD analysis was performed on all accessions. In addition, a field experiment was done at AREC to assess growth, yield and other morphological characters under irrigated and non-irrigated conditions. Percentage germination and speed of germination were significantly affected by choice of accessions as well as osmotic stress. Germination elasticity, on the other hand, was not affected by osmotic potential, and most accessions showed poor recover)' following stress. A wide range of seed oil content, 37.75 to 62.30 % was observed. Many variables, such as plant height, time to harvest and seed yield were not affected by irrigation treatment, but differ between accessions. Cluster analysis resulted in different groupings depending on quantitative, qualitative or DNA results. Also, accessions were grouped differently when irrigated and non-irrigated variable results were compared. Diversity analysis therefore is highly affected by and changes according to prevalent conditions. It is therefore recommended that such analysis be performed under conditions resembling the target area of production.