Stability analysis and molecular profiling of Desi chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Abstract A study was conducted during the 2021 rabi season to investigate and identify stable genotypes of desi Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). The investigation involved employing 15 SSR primers for screening and assessing thirty genotypes under three distinct sowing dates to evaluate their grain yield performance. The findings highlighted significant variance components associated with genotype, environment, and G x E interactions, signifying variability in both genotypes and environments and variations in performance among different genotypes. Linear components were also notable, suggesting the potential to anticipate variations in genotype performance. Particularly, genotype ICCV-18-1664 exhibited stability for grain yield per plant in favourable environments, while genotypes DC-17-1111 and DC-17-1115 showed stability in unfavourable environments. The dissimilarity index, derived from SSR data clustering, categorized the 30 genotypes into five primary clusters. Genetic structure analysis, based on 15 SSR primer loci, unveiled that the 30 desi chickpea genotypes comprise a blend of four major ancestral components in diverse combinations.