Analysis of wild sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) germplasm diversity in south-east Serbia

Abstract

Ten wild growing sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) genotypes from South-East Serbia with different fruit skin color were analyzed for its phenological, morphological and chemical traits. Agronomic evaluation of germplasm accessions revealed considerable diversity among different accessions for all the characters studied. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences among all genotypes for almost all examined properties. Cluster analysis showed adequate grouping of wild sweet cherry genotypes according to pomological characterization and distinguished them into two distinct groups. The first group had two subgroups and consisted of seven genotypes, while the second one included only three accessions. Despite of the significant differences among genotypes, the total concentration of phenols made a clear separation between the clusters. The level of genetic diversity in these wild sweet cherry genotypes is very high and therefore these trees are useful sources of variability for attributes studied and can be employed in further breeding programs or conservation.

U ovom radu ispitivane su fenološke, morfološke i hemijske osobine deset genotipova divlje trešnje (Prunus avium L.) različite boje pokožice, poreklom iz jugoistočne Srbije. Izučavanjem ove germplazme otkriven je značajan biodiverzitet između ispitivanih biljaka. Analiza varijanse otkrila je značajne razlike između genotipova za skoro sve proučavane osobine. Klaster analizom genotipovi divlje trešnje su grupisani i na osnovu pomološke kategorizacije su izdvojene dve grupe. Prva grupa je sadržala dve podgrupe i obuhvatala je sedam genotipova, dok je drugoj pripadalo samo tri genotipa. Bez obzira na značajne razlike ovakva podela između proučavanih biljaka je izvršena na osnovu koncentracije ukupnih fenola. Nivo genetičkog diverziteta kod proučavanih genotipova divlje trešnje je veoma visok i zbog toga ova stabla su koristan izvor varijabilnosti za proučavane osobine i mogu se koristiti u budućim oplemenjivačkim programima pri ukrštanju između sorti i divljih genotipova.