Abstract:

The aims are to optimize the DUS test technology of flax, and provide a scientific basis for the DUS test of new flax varieties. 30 flax varieties were used as test materials, 19 DUS traits were used to investigate the genetic diversity of the test varieties. The results showed that 62 allelic variations were detected in all test varieties by testing 19 morphological traits, and the mean number of allelic variation for each trait was 3.2632. The mean effective allelic variation number was 2.3716 (1.2195-5.2941). The mean Shannon-Weaver diversity index of 19 morphological testing characteristics was 0.8720 with the amplitude from 0.2449 to 1.7160. The UPGMA cluster analysis showed that the 30 flax varieties were divided into three groups. Most varieties of groupⅠandⅡ were oilseed flax, while most of group Ⅲ were fiber flax. Our results show that there are significantly positive correlations between plant height and technology length, and between capsule number of single plant and branch number of single plant. Meanwhile, there is a significantly negative correlation between plant height and capsule number of single plants. Therefore, technology length and branch number of single plant are recommended to be excluded from DUS testing traits of flax, characteristics of plant height and branch number of single plant might be effective to distinguish varieties.

Key words: flax, DUS testing, quantitative characteristics, correlation analysis, morphological characteristics, diversity analysis