Morphological variability of indigenous cherry plum (Prunus divaricata Ledeb.) accessions

Abstract

Cherry plum (Prunus divaricata Ledeb.) is a promising species as a new rootstock for the Prunus genus. In the current study, phenotypic diversity among 43 accessions of this wild species from Hyrcanian forests in Golestan province from Iran was investigated. The selected accessions revealed significant differences in all the measured characteristics. Fruit length ranged from 10.90 to 16.40 mm with an average of 14.30. Ten-fruit weight varied from 5.53 to 33.50 g with an average of 17.70. Leaf length ranged from 19.10 to 44.60 mm with an average of 31.50. Leaf width varied from 8.43 to 26.80 mm with an average of 17.30. Fruit weight was positively correlated with fruit length, fruit width, frui pulp thickness, fruit stalk length, stone length, stone width, stone weight, leaf length, leaf width, and leaf symmetry. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated seven principal components that explained 69.93% of total variance. The dendrogram clustered accessions into two main groups based on the measured traits and verified the existence of differing degrees of morphological variation among the accessions. The current study revealed a rich new genetic source for plum breeding that should be conserved in sutu and ex sutu.

Citation

Heidari, P.; Sahebi, M.; Azadvari, E.; Lawson, S.; Rezaei, M.; Khadivi, A. 2022. Morphological variability of indigenous cherry plum (Prunus divaricata Ledeb.) accessions. European Journal of Horticultural Science. 87(1). 8 p. https://doi.org/10.17660/eJHS.2022/002.