Morphological Characterization of Ex-situ Conserved Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) Accessions
摘要
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. Lam) is a dicotyledonous plant belonging to the Convolvulaceae family, widely recognized for its nutritious tuberous roots consumed globally. It is a popular tuber crop grown and consumed in Sri Lanka. The Plant Genetic Resource Centre (PGRC) in Gannoruwa, Peradeniya, has conserved 121 accessions of sweet potato. This research focused on characterizing 26 uncharacterized sweet potato accessions, conserved at the PGRC using morphological traits. The primary aim of the study was to assess the extent of diversity within the sweet potato collection and identify any duplications in the characterized collection. The experiment was conducted during the 2024/25 Maha season in field no. 01 at the PGRC and Gannoruwa Sudu, Wariyapola Red, and HORDI Malee, were used as recommended varieties. A Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two replicates was employed to characterize 25 qualitative traits and 7 quantitative traits. Analysis of variance and mean comparisons revealed significant morphological diversity, particularly in traits such as internode length, internode diameter, flower width, and plant type. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the first seven principal components explained 74.7% of the total character variation among the accessions. Cluster analysis grouped the accessions into five clusters, with a genetic distance of 11.83, and confirmed the absence of duplicates within the characterized collection. PGRCSP 116 and PGRCSP 115 showed great potential for utilization in home garden cultivation as well as for ornamental uses. These findings are crucial for the systematic conservation of germplasm and the identification of key traits that can be utilized in crop varietal improvement programs.