Investigating How Seed Yield is Influenced by Different Agronomic Traits in Local Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) Lines Through the Utilization of Path Analysis and Principal Components Analysis

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• B Masoudi ¹
• M Abbasali ¹
• A Aien ²
• S Saif Amiri ³

¹ Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran

² Seed and Plant Improvement Research Department, South Kerman Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Jiroft, Iran

³ Seed and Plant Improvement Department, Ardabil Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, AREEO, Ardabil, Iran

10.22067/jcesc.2025.91336.1368

Abstract

Introduction
The importance of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) as a key crop in numerous regions can be attributed to its adaptability to dry climates, the nutritional value of its oil, and its health advantages. The necessity of improving the sesame plant is important by its comparatively low yield. The use of improved cultivars by plant breeding and breeding methods has resulted in a higher yield and higher quality of crops, which in the case of sesame plants include a greater increase in the seed yield and improvement in its quality. In a breeding program, increasing genetic diversity enhances the ability to select superior genotypes, and a more efficient selection process contributes to greater breeding success. The use of local sesame cultivars is particularly valuable because of their potential to generate improved genotypes. Understanding the relationships between yield and other related traits allows these traits to be used more effectively as selection indicators for genetic improvement. The nature of the relationship between yield and its components determines what appropriate traits should be used in plant breeding.
Materials and Methods
To discover the correlations among seed yield and some important agricultural traits in order to determine the direct and indirect effects of each trait on seed yield and finally to choose the ideal genotypes in terms of various characteristics, a total of 36 local sesame cultivars were evaluated in 3 regions (Karaj, Moghan and Jiroft) by using a randomized complete block design for two years (2017-2018). A total of 14 quantitative traits were studied in this study, including measurements like the number of days from germination to the beginning of flowering, the number of days from germination to the beginning of maturity, the height of the first capsule from the plant crown, the height of the plant, the number of branches, the number of capsules in one plant, the number of seeds in one Capsule, seed weight of one capsule, the weight of 1000 seeds, capsule length, capsule width, capsule diameter, biological performance and seed yield.
Results and Discussion
The calculation of simple correlation coefficients showed that the height of the first pod from the plant crown, seed weight of a capsule, biological yield, number of seeds in a capsule and plant height have the highest correlation coefficients with seed yield. The height of the first capsule from the plant crown, the number of seeds in the capsule and the height of the plant were demonstrated by path analysis had the most positive direct effect and the number of days until the start of maturity had the most negative direct effect on seed yield and it is suggested that they be used as selection indicators for the improvement of seed yield. Five components were identified through the results of the principal components analysis which explained 77.92% of the variations in the data. Out of all the genotypes analyzed in terms of yield, genotypes 78-730, 78-229, and 78-570, displayed the greatest seed yield on the biplot generated by the first and second components. All evaluated traits led to the identification of four separate groups through cluster analysis. Overall, the results indicated that the cultivars in the first group were late-flowering types characterized by tall plants and high yield. The second group consisted of late-flowering cultivars with few capsules and low yield. The third group included early-flowering, early-maturing cultivars with long capsules, while the fourth group comprised cultivars with small capsules but a high number of seeds.
Conclusion
It was shown by cluster analysis that there was no connection between the classification of genotypes and their geographical placement and predominantly, the genotypes were classified by their physical distinctions and morphological differences. It can be concluded from the results that principal components analysis and cluster analysis exhibit similarities in their ability to segregate cultivars and genotypes. Their analysis outcomes give us a better understanding of the genetic structure and helps identifying specific genetic populations that have the potential to improved breeding programs.

Keywords

• Biplot
• Geographic distribution
• Relationships between traits
• Selection indices
• Yield improvement

Main Subjects

• Crop yield

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Authors retain the copyright. This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

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