Hierarchical cluster analysis of genetic diversity in Maize germplasm

An experiment was conducted to analyze the genetic diversity among 38 maize germplasm accessions of the maize germplasm bank of Department of Millets, TNAU, Coimbatore. Observations regarding 25 morphological traits were recorded and the data matrix was used for estimation of Euclidian distance by Un-weighted Paired Group Arithmetic Average (UPGMA) method. Clustering was done by Sequential Agglomerative Hierarchical Non-overlapping (SAHN) clustering. The genotypes were grouped in to four clusters. The grouping of the genotypes was not influenced by their geographical origin. Maximum dissimilarity was observed between the genotypes UMI 551 and UMI 696. Widely divergent clusters and genotypes were identified which could be further evaluated for their breeding value as parents and could be exploited in maize crop improvement.