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Natural variability and heritability of root-nodulation traits in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) minicore

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Abstract

The existence of large variations for nodulation traits in chickpea minicore was revealed and genetic materials for beneficial biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) traits like early nodulation, high nodulation, and delayed nodule senescence were identified. Early-nodulating genotypes viz. ICC12968, ICC7867, ICC13816, ICC867, ICC15264, ICC15510, and ICC283 produced > 10 nodule number per plant (NNPP) at 15 as well as 30 days after sowing (DAS). Maximum of 36 NNPP at stage 3 i.e., 253% higher than check cultivar were observed in Iran originated ICC6874. Chickpea minicore showed large variations for nodule mass that ranged up to 850 mg/plant at 60 DAS and 2290 mg/plant at 90 DAS. Strong positive correlation was found between nodule fresh weight and specific weight at stage 3 (0.69) and stage 4 (0.76). Besides these, few slight positive significant correlations were also observed viz., nodule number per plant at stage 3 and 4 (0.45), nodule fresh weight at stage 3 and 4 (0.39). Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that dimensions 1 (21%), 2 (17.6%), and 3 (13%) accounted for a substantial portion of the phenotypic variance, each contributing more than 10%. Accessions viz. ICC1431, ICC13599, ICC13764, and ICC13863 with pink active root nodules and high nodule biomass at later crop growth stages are considered as genetic resources to extend the BNF support in chickpea. High broad-sense heritability values of 76.43 and 90.23 were observed for early nodulation and delayed nodule senescence, respectively. Hence, the identified genotypes for early nodulation and delayed nodule senescence can be used for improving symbiotic efficiency in chickpea.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are thankful to Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Pulses Research-Kanpur and BBA University-Lucknow, India for providing laboratory and field facilities to conduct the research activities. First author acknowledges the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and University Grants Commission (UGC), India, for providing financial support in terms of fellowship.

Funding

RV acknowledges Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-University Grant Commission- Junior Research Fellowship (Ref. No. 22/12/2013(ll)EU-V).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, 208024, India

    Renu Verma & Murugesan Senthilkumar

  2. Department of Environmental Microbiology, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Vidya Vihar Raebareli Road, Lucknow, 226025, India

    Renu Verma

  3. Division of Plant Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, 208024, India

    P. S. Shanmugavadivel

  4. Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Earth and Environmental Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Vidya Vihar Raebareli Road, Lucknow, 226025, India

    Naveen Kumar Arora

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Contributions

Conceptualization, designing experiments, data interpretation, and manuscript preparation were done by SKM and NKA. Field/pot experiments were carried out by RV. Genetic variability and other statistical analysis were done by PSS and RV. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Naveen Kumar Arora or Murugesan Senthilkumar.

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Verma, R., Shanmugavadivel, P.S., Arora, N.K. et al. Natural variability and heritability of root-nodulation traits in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) minicore. 3 Biotech 14, 70 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-023-03908-1

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