[Vol.11(3), September - December 2013]
Pantnagar Journal of Research
357
Genetic variability and character association of morphological traits in Bamboo
species
M. S. BHANDARI1, R. KAUSHAL2 and S. K. TEWARI3
Division of Genetics & Tree Propagation, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun-248 195
Division of Plant Science, Central Soil and Water Conservation and Research and Training Institute, Dehradun-248 195
3
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar – 263 145 (U. S. Nagar, Uttarakhand)
1
2
ABSTRACT : Fifteen species of bamboo species were evaluated for coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic
advance estimation. Analysis of variance revealed adequate genetic variability among species for most of the characters
studied over the years. Based on statistical analysis heritability estimates were high and coupled with high genetic advances
for new culm diameter and circumference of whole sets. Circumference of sets showed significant and positive correlation
with plant height, total number of culm, number of old shoots, new culm diameter and number of new shoots.
Key words: Bamboo species, heritability, genetic advance, bamboo variability.
Bamboos are a group of woody perennial
evergreen plants in the grass family Poaceae, subfamily
Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. It is distributed in
the tropical and subtropical regions of the world with
nearly 136 species spread across 18 genera. India is the
second rich country in the bamboo genetic resources
after China. Tewari (1992) listed 23 genera and 126
species of bamboo from India of which 18 genera and
90 species occur in the North-Eastern region.
The major constraint for raising fairly large scale
plantations of bamboo is the limited availability of
quality planting material of desired species (Banik,
2008). Due to scarcity of seeds many species are
propagated effectively by vegetative propagation
methods with remarkable success. Their performance
and application for specific end uses also need to be
evaluated. At present, bamboo culm is under-utilized
whereas bamboo shoot is, in contrast, over-utilized. The
existing level of management practice of government
and community, it is likely that sustainable use of
the bamboo forest cannot be achieved in the long run
(Saowaluck and Somporn, 1993).
Yield of bamboo in terms of wood and green leafy
biomass is a complex and quantitatively inherited
character and highly influenced by environmental
fluctuations. Strength properties increased from the
bottom to the top of bamboo (Lee et al. 1994). There
may not be individual genes but various minor genes
responsible for yield. These yield components are
less influenced by environmental variations, and thus
effective improvement in yield may be brought about
by selecting for these component characters. The
expected improvement in such characters primarily
depends on the nature and magnitude of heritable
variations.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present work was carried out at the Agroforestry
Research Centre, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture
and Technology, Pantnagar,) at age of 2 years.
Experimental material of the present study comprised
of fifteen species of bamboo located in Bambusetum.
Experimental material was planted in a Randomized
Block Design with two replications. The details of the
experimental material are presented in Table 1. The
recommended packages of cultural practices were
followed during the experimentation for obtaining
normal plantation growth.
358 Pantnagar Journal of Research
Phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation
were obtained as the ratio of respective standard
deviation to the general mean of the characters and
expressed in percentage following Burton and DeVane
(1953), heritability in broad sense and the expected
genetic advance under selection for different characters
was estimated as suggested by Allard (1960). Correlation
coefficients were estimated following Searle (1961).
[Vol.11(3), September - December 2013]
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
At age 2 years of bamboo (2007) the analysis of
variance exhibited highly significant differences among
the bamboo species for the characters plant height, culm
diameter [old culm], culm diameter [new culm] and
circumference of whole sets of bamboo respectively.
These results clearly indicated the presence of sufficient
variability for different characters among the species
Table 1: List of bamboo species used in the study established in Bambusetum
Sl. No.
Species
Propagule type
Collection source
1.
Bambusa bambos
Offset
Branch cutting
Old Agroforestry garden
Old Agroforestry garden
2.
Bambusa balcooa
Offset
Offset
Kalinagar (Origin from south of 24 parganas, WB)
FRI Dehradun
3.
Bambusa multiplex
Small part-clump
Small part-clump
FRI Dehradun
Local
4.
Bambusa nutans
Offset
Offset
FRI Dehradun
FRI Dehradun
5.
Bambusa tulda
Offset
Seedling (Macroproliferated)
FRI Dehradun
KFRI (South India)
6.
Bambusa vulgaris
Offset
Offset
Old Agroforestry garden
FRI Dehradun
7.
Dendrocalamus giganteus
Offset
Br. Cutting
FRI Dehradun
FRI Dehradun
8.
Dendrocalamus hamiltonii
Offset
Br. Cutting
Molichak, palampur
IHBT, Palampur
9.
Dendrocalamus longispathus
Offset
Offset
FRI Dehradun
FRI Dehradun
10.
Dendrocalamus membraneceous
Offset
Br. Cutting
FRI Dehradun
FRI Dehradun
11.
Dendrocalamus strictus
Offset
Seedling
FRI Dehradun
FRI Dehradun
12.
Gigantochloa albociliata
Offset
Br. Cutting
FRI Dehradun
FRI Dehradun
13.
Melocalmus compactiflorus
Offset (Under sisoo tree, near stream) FRI Dehradun
Br. cutting
FRI Dehradun
14
Melocanna baccifera
Part clump
Seedling
FRI Dehradun
Tripura, seedling year 2005
15.
Pseudo-oxytenanthera stocksii
Br. Cutting
Br. Cutting
Bangalore
Bangalore
Pantnagar Journal of Research
[Vol.11(3), September - December 2013]
under study. Above results are in accordance with
earlier findings of Singh et al. (2004), Singh (1993) and
Bhandari et al. (2012).
The estimates of genotypic and phenotypic
coefficient of variation (GCV % and PCV %) are
presented in Table 2. Phenotypic variation was observed
to be generally higher than genotypic coefficient
of variation for most of the characters studied. The
characters having high PCV revealed the effect of
environment (Ram and Singh, 1993), whereas, the
characters showing high GCV can be used for selection
in the breeding programme.
Highest GCV (32.19%) and PCV (36.51%) values
were recorded for new culm diameter followed by
circumference of whole sets (GCV = 29.53%, PCV =
33.34%). Other characters with high GCV % and PCV
% were old culm diameter (GCV = 31.61%, PCV =
39.72%) and number of old culms (GCV = 22.54%,
PCV = 38.29%). Lowest value of PCV % (13.74%) and
GCV % (36.99%) were recorded for number of new
shoots.
The present results indicated that there was
adequate amount of variability present for most of the
characters, in the available bamboo species and selection
can be effectively practiced for desirable types as per
the breeding objectives. The magnitude of heritable
variation and more particularly, its genetic components
are the most important aspects of any breeding material
(Table 2)
359
High estimates of heritability with high genetic
advance were recorded for new culm diameter,
circumference of whole sets, plant height and old
culm diameter (Table 2). High heritability and low
genetic advance were observed for plant height and
circumference of whole sets while, moderate estimates
of heritability and genetic advance were shown by
total number of culm and number of old shoots. Low
heritability and low genetic advance was recorded for
number of new shoots. The above findings of high
heritability and genetic advance for the characters
observed in the present study were found to be supported
well by Singh et al., 2004 and Singh, 1993.
High genetic advance recorded for new culm
diameter, old culm diameter and total number of culm
indicated that additive genetic component which are
fixable, were much higher and considerable improvement
by selection is possible for these traits. Phenotypic
selection will be effective for the improvement of these
characters.
It is to be concluded that high estimates of heritability
recorded for new culm diameter, circumference of
whole sets and plant height indicated the greater value of
additive gene action in prediction of genetic variance for
these characters. This indicates a close correspondence
between genotype and phenotype due to relatively
smaller contribution of environment to the phenotype.
However, on basis of high value of heritability selection
can’t be employed directly until high value of genetic
advance shows its clear-cut effects on the traits under
investigation (Table 3)
Table 2: Estimates of genetic parameters for agronomic traits in Bamboo during Kharif-2007
Characters
Range
Mean ± SE
CV %
Coefficient of
variation
Heritability
Genetic
advance
(% of
mean)
GCV % PCV %
Plant height (mt)
2.65-8.75
2.3.51 ± 0.70
15.93
25.40
29.99
0.71
2.77
Total no. of Culm
6.00-23.50
15.33 ± 2.96
27.25
22.63
35.42
0.41
4.57
Old culm diameter (mt)
0.018-0.053 0.028 ± 0.005
23.98
31.61
39.72
0.63
4.48
No. of old shoots
4.50-12.50
8.37 ± 1.83
30.95
22.54
38.29
0.35
2.29
New culm diameter (mt)
0.013-0.073
0.048 ± 0.58
17.12
32.19
36.51
0.77
8.82
No. of new shoot
3.50-11.50
7.07 ± 1.72
34.34
13.74
36.99
0.14
0.74
Circumference of whole
sets (mt)
1.10-4.50
3.02 ± 0.33
15.47
29.53
33.34
0.78
1.63
360 Pantnagar Journal of Research
[Vol.11(3), September - December 2013]
Table 3: Correlation coefficients between agronomic traits in bamboo species
Characters
Plant height (mt)
Total no. of Culm
Old culm diameter (mt)
No. of old shoot
New culm diameter (mt)
No. of new shoot
Circumference of sets (mt)
rg
rp
rg
rp
rg
rp
rg
rp
rg
rp
rg
rp
rg
rp
Plant Total no.
Old culm
No. of New culm
height of Culm diameter (mt) old shoot diameter
(mt)
(mt)
1.00
0.28
0.65*
0.09
0.91**
0.38
0.57*
0.21
0.77**
1.00
-0.07
0.92**
0.30
-0.01
0.89**
0.24
1.00
-0.10
0.73**
0.06
0.66*
1.00
0.14
0.16
1.00
No. of
new
shoot
0.55*
0.54*
0.89**
0.84**
-0.10
-0.10
0.66*
0.58*
0.51*
0.21
1.00
Circumference
of sets (mt)
0.64*
0.55*
0.80**
0.65*
0.22
0.13
0.83**
0.58*
0.58*
0.51*
0.55*
0.52*
1.00
rg = genotypic correlation; rp = phenotypic correlation; *, ** - Significance at 5% and 1% probability levels,
respectively.
Correlation analysis revealed that plant height,
old culm diameter, new culm diameter, number of new
shoots and circumference of sets had major contribution
in determining quantity and quality of biomass and timber
yield in bamboo species under study. Significant positive
correlation of green forage yield and dry matter yield was
observed with plant height, old culm diameter, new culm
diameter, number of new shoots and circumference of
sets (Table 4). Mohmud and Liese (2002), Sagwal (1987)
and Singh (1993) reported similar results. Genotypic
correlation coefficients were in general higher in magnitude
than phenotypic correlation coefficients, suggesting the
preponderance of environmental factors for lessing the
impact of genetic association at phenotypic level.
REFERENCES
Allard, R. W. (1960). Principals of Plant Breeding.
John Wiley and Sons Inc. New York, 185 p.
Bhandari, M. S., Kaushal, R., Tewari, S.K. and
Banik, R.L. (2012). Estimation of genetic diversity
in Bamboo through metroglyph analysis. The
Indian Forester, 138(12): 1087-1090.
Banik, R. L. (2008). Issues in Production of Bamboo
Plant Material – Lessons and Strategies. The Indian
Forester J., 291-294.
Burton, G. W. and Devane, E. M. (1953). Estimating
heritability in tall festuca from replicated clonal
material. Agron. J., 45: 478-481.
Lee, A. W. C., Bai, X. and Peralta, P. N. (1994). Selected
physical and mechanical properties of giant timber
bamboo grown in South Carolina. Forest Products
Journal (USA). (Sep 1994). V., 44(9): 40-46.
Mohmud, A. L. and Liese, W. (2002). Culm
characteristics of two bamboos in relation to
age, height and site. Bamboo for sustainable
development. In: Proceedings of the Vth
International Bamboo Congress and the VIth
International Bamboo Workshop, San Jose, Costa
Rica, 2- 6, November 1998; 223-233.
Ram, T. and Singh, S. (1993). Heritability and genetic
advance analysis in cowpea. Indian J. Pulses
Research, 6: 194-196.
Sagwal, S. S. (1987). Correlation studies in maggar
bamboo (Dendrocalamus hamiltonii Nees & Arn.).
Journal of Tropical Forestry, 3(2): 132-135.
Saowaluck Chompunuch and Somporn Isvilanond.
(1993). Economic value and management of
Sublanka bamboo forest, Lopburi province. Thai
Journal of Forestry (Thailand). Warasan Wanasat.
V., 14(1): 46-58.
Searle, S. R. (1961). Phenotypic, genotypic and
environmental correlations. Biometrics, 17: 474-480.
Singh, P.; Srivastava, S. K.; Kumari, N.; Srivastava,
R. J. and Dubey, P. (2004). Genetic variability
and selection parameter in Dendrocalamus strictus.
Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 16(4): 413-418.
Singh, N. B. (1993). Estimation of variance, heritability,
genetic gain and correlations among some growth
characters in Bambusa pallida Roxb. Indian
Journal of Forestry. 10 ref. , 16(1): 33-38.
Tewari, D. N. (1992). A Monograph on Bamboo.
International Book distributor, Dehradun, 498 p.