Canonical Discriminant Analysis for the Assessment of Genetic Variation in Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill)

Abstract

For improvement of soybean, it is necessary to gain insight into the magnitude of variability present in the species.
The study was conducted to assess sources of genetic and phenotypic variability in 62 soybean varieties. Seventeen
morphological, agronomical and quality characters were measured. The multivariate data set was analyzed by
Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA) in combination with a clustering procedure. In this analysis, the first
four canonical varieties were significant and, number of pods/plant was the most differentiating traits among the
varieties. The canonical roots clustered the varieties into eighteen groups on the basis of the differentiating traits.
CDA effectively analyzed the genetic variation and identified the traits that could better describe the variation
among soybean genotypes. Cluster analysis was successful in differentiating the varieties into similar subgroups
on the basis of the measured traits