article · Plants
Assessing genetic diversity assists plant breeders in choosing suitable parent plants to maximise genetic variability and create superior genotypes. Five kalanchoe genotypes were evaluated based on morphological traits including plant height, flower count, inflorescence number, flower length, flower diameter, and petal count. Morphological analysis showed yellow kalanchoe excelled in height, orange kalanchoe in flower and inflorescence numbers as well as flower length, and violet kalanchoe in flower diameter and petal count. Molecular profiling using random amplified polymorphic DNA, inter-simple sequence repeats, and start codon targeted markers identified 70 total bands, of which 35 were polymorphic. Random amplified polymorphic DNA and start codon targeted markers exhibited the highest polymorphism rates at roughly 60 percent and 57 percent, respectively. Morphological traits grouped the plants into two clusters, while molecular markers grouped them into three. Orange, violet, and yellow varieties were identified as distinguished parental candidates for breeding programmes.
Ornamental plant breeding relies on selecting genetically diverse parent stocks to develop plants with desirable characteristics, such as larger flowers or higher bloom yields. Combining physical measurements with molecular profiling allows breeders to evaluate traits accurately. This approach establishes a reliable foundation for targeted breeding, reducing guesswork and supporting the efficient genetic improvement of commercially cultivated ornamental flowers.
The findings are relevant to commercial floriculture businesses and plant breeders aiming to develop new kalanchoe varieties with specific commercial traits, such as increased flower count or larger blooms. The research sits at an early stage, identifying promising parental genotypes and validated molecular marker tools. Translating these results into commercial products will require controlled crossing programmes, downstream selection, and subsequent production trials.
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Determining the appropriate parents for breeding programs is the most important decision that plant breeders must make to maximize the genetic variability and produce excellent recombinant genotypes. Several methods are used to identify genotypes with desirable phenotypic features for breeding experiments. In this study, five kalanchoe genotypes were morphologically characterized by assessing plant height, number of inflorescences, number of flowers, flower length, flower diameter and number of petals. The analysis showed the distinction of yellow kalanchoe in the plant height trait, while the orange kalanchoe was distinguished in the number of inflorescences, the number of flowers and flower length traits, whereas the violet kalanchoe possessed the largest flower diameter and the highest number of petals. The molecular profiling was performed by random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD), inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and start codon targeted (SCoT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tools. Genomic DNA was extracted from young leaves and the PCR reactions were performed using ten primers for each SCoT, ISSR and RAPD marker. Only four out of ten primers showed amplicon profiles in all PCR markers. A total of 70 bands were generated by SCoT, ISSR and RAPD-PCR with 35 polymorphic bands and 35 monomorphic bands. The total number of bands of RAPD, ISSR and SCoT was 15, 17 and 38, respectively. The polymorphism percentages achieved by RAPD, ISSR and SCoT were 60.25%, 15% and 57%, respectively. The cluster analysis based on morphological data revealed two clusters. Cluster I consisted of violet and orange kalanchoe, and cluster II comprised red, yellow and purple kalanchoe. Whereas the cluster analysis based on molecular data revealed three clusters. Cluster I included only yellow kalanchoe, cluster II comprised orange and violet kalanchoe while cluster III comprised red, and purple kalanchoe. The study concluded that orange, violet and yellow kalanchoe are distinguished parents for breeding economically valued traits in kalanchoe. Also, the study concluded that SCoT and RAPD markers reproduced reliable banding patterns to assess the genetic polymorphism among kalanchoe genotypes that consider the basis stone for genetic improvements in ornamental plants.
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DOI: 10.3390/plants11131722
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