Multivariate Analysis in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Mutant Families from Anna (R) 4 Cultivar

Background: The drought is one of the major limiting factors in rice production especially in rainfed environment. The rice production loss in rainfed has ranged from 17 to 40 percent during severe drought seasons. The rice cultivar Anna (R) 4 is having best adoptive characteristics to suits direct seeded rice under rainfed cultivation. But it has less market preference due its undesirable grain characters at consumer level. Hence, induced mutagenesis approach resorted to correct the undesirable traits and improve this variety to suits present needs. The mutant lines are having desirable changes and shows more similarity with Anna (R) 4 were identified by multivariate analyses. Methods: The present investigation was carried out during rabi 2018-19 to access the genetic relatedness of the 32 mutant families derived from Anna (R) 4 rice cultivar through electron beam, gamma rays and recurrent EMS mutagenesis. Data on twelve morphological traits were analysed for genetic divergence, principal component analysis and UPGMA clustering. Result: The mutant families were grouped in eight clusters with maximum and minimum diversity (D2) values of 457.21 and 10.90 respectively. The principal component analysis revealed that 75.32 per cent of total variability was explained by first five PCs and traits contributed to the divergence among the mutant families was discussed. The cluster tree obtained from UPGMA clustering based on the dissimilarity among the mutants was narrated.