Core Collections of Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) from the Gene Bank of INIAP, Ecuador

Abstract

Quinoa is a grain native of Andean region with high nutritional value, mainly on the content of essential amino acids for human consumption. The quinoa collection of the National Agricultural Research Institute (INIAP), contains over 600 samples, which represents the high diversity of this crop in the Sierra of Ecuador. The Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture recommends the establishment of core collections as a necessary condition for improving the use of plant genetic resources, so that this type of research contributes to the identification gene of interest for breeding programs. The aim was to identify groups that allow to define a core collection of quinoa germplasm. For clustering analysis of Ward hierarchical clustering was used; Gower distance using the taxonomic similarity between each pair of contiguous characters accessions was estimated. For qualitative identification of discriminating characters X2 test was used. For quantitative characters Engels statistic was used. Identified four hierarchical groups. The most discriminating qualitative characteristics were: incidence of downy mildew, powdery mildew reaction type reaction to mildew and grain color. The most discriminating quantitative traits were: days to first mature panicle, days to full maturity, yield per plot and severity of mildew. There is an inverse relationship between the attribute earliness and yield, because the earliest accessions (Group 2) are those with the lowest yields. This study found parental gene donors with favorable characters and initiate a plan of breeding by hybridization.