Characterisation of small grains resources at IFVCNS with UPOV descriptors

Characterisation of genetic diversity of small grains germplasm is important for their identification, classification and efficient use in breeding. The aim of this study was to assess genetic diversity of winter wheat, durum wheat and triticale varieties and breeder’s lines developed at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Serbia, during the last 50 years, with morphological characteristics. A total of 26 morphological traits were used for characterization as described in the guidelines for the conduct of tests for Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability of the Internati onal Union for Protection of New Varieties of Plants. The normalised Shannon diversity index (Hꞌ) was used as a measure of morphological diversity. The homogeneity analysis was used to analyse the patterns of variations with categorical data with the R package Homals. An R package VarSelLCM was used to determine the most relevant characteristics for clustering the genotypes. On average, the diversity was higher for traits relating to generative than for those associated with vegetative organs in bread and durum wheat, while in triticale the diversity was higher for traits relating to vegetative plant organs. The Shannon diversity index in bread wheat genotypes ranged from 0.63, to 1.49, with the mean of 1.10, indicating a high morphological diversity. The lower level of morphological diversity was observed in durum wheat, with the smallest mean value of Hꞌ of 0.616 and a range from 0.28 to 0.950. The triticale genotypes showed medium level of morphological diversity with Hꞌ varying from 0.235, to 1.457, and the mean value of 0.752