Lathyrus diversity: resources with different origin with relevance to crop improvement

Abstract

Lathyrus sativus L. is a legume crop, possessing high protein content, tolerant to drought, waterlogging and salinity. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the phenotypic diversity of the exchanged local Lathyrus accessions from Mediterranean region and south eastern Europe in order to review their potential for its ex situ conservation and sustainable use. The subject of the study were twenty four grass pea accessions with different origin, received on a project basis. The morphological, biological and economic characteristics were assessed on 10 pre-marked, normally developed plants from each accession using the International Classification of Species Lathyrus sp. and list of indicators. All exchanged accessions were registered in our national database and in European Search Catalogue for Plant Genetic Resources (EURISCO). Nine Lathyrus sativus accessions with Bulgarian origin were reproduced at the experimental field of IPGR, Sadovo and the seeds from them was included in AEGIS (A European Genebank Integrated System). Several accessions (C000095, C0000101, C0000100, BGR43334, BGR40415 and C00000103) were selected with promising results related to grain and forage yields. Cluster analysis classified the accessions into two distinct groups as accessions from Bulgaria, Romania and part of Serbia were grouped in the first cluster and all others in the second. As the best adapted accessions to Bulgarian environment condition were two accessions from Romania (C00096 and C00095), two from Serbia (C000100 and C000101) and two from Bosnia and Herzegovina (C00093 and C00094). They demonstrated good productivity and good adaptability. All exchanged accessions were registered in our National database and in EURISCO database.