Study of Phenotypic Characteristics and Analysis of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability in Cultivars of Onion (Allium cepa L.) in Uruguay

Abstract

Obtaining the title of a cultivar is a strategy of breeders that, added to the seed certification, supports the genetic quality to farmers when buy their seeds. The test of distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) following the guidelines of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) is one of the requirements for the protection of a cultivar. DUS tests of Allium cepa L. were performed at the National Seed Institute (INASE) in Barros Blancos, Uruguay, in 2011 and 2012. The UPOV guidelines methodology was used when performing DUS of five protected cultivars and 19 public cultivars. Additionally the phenotypic distances were studied by the method of clusters «Jaccard» and the software for DUS «GAIA». The five protected cultivars were different from the public ones, and homogeneous in their characteristics, which were stable in the two trials. Varietal descriptions of 24 cultivars were performed. The dendrogram based on the distances «Jaccard» ordered the cultivars into three groups. «Canarita CRS» and «Pantanoso del Sauce CRS» were the most phenotypically similar cultivars, and they are in group 2, followed by «Angaco INTA» and «Babosa» in group 1. All cultivars of national origin can be combined in a group. These studies allow to describe and characterize cultivars available to farmers.