Multivariate analysis and selection to enquire genetic variation patterns in Nigella sativa

Thirty two accessions of Nigella sativa L. germplasm were evaluated under field conditions for three years during 2009-2011. Principal component analysis (PCA) was carried out to form six, three and five PCs during the year 2009, 2010 and 2011 which showed variability of 87.85%, 79.75% and 79.42% of germplasm, respectively. The subdivision of the variance into components assisted in the genetic resources conservation and future utilization of appropriate gene pool in crop improvement for specific plant attributes. Genetic dissimilarities revealed by un-weighed pair group method of arithmetic means (UPGMA) divided germplasm into eight clusters based on three years of field evaluation. Multivariate analysis revealed that genetic variation was independent of origin and many accessions from the same vicinity are grouped separately. Accessions present in specific clusters could be used for better exploitation of economic traits and could be used as parents for further study of genetic variation or to be incorporated for gene recombination.