Life Science Journal 2012;9(4) http://www.lifesciencesite.com 4099 A study on genetic diversity in lentil genotypes using seeds morphologic and protein traits Parisa Aghili * , Ali Akbar Imani and Yousef Alaei Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding Ardabil branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran Corresponding author: Parisa Aghili. Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding Ardabil branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran. Email: parisaaghili@yahoo.com Abstract: The following research tries to study the relation and correlation between grain yield and other quantitative traits in lentil using 29 lentil genotypes (including 26 foreign genotypes and 3 control genotypes). The research was conducted in Ardabil Agriculture and Natural Resources Research through augmented method in randomized complete block design in three replications, during 2011. During the agricultural season, certain traits such as green percentage, days to flowering, number of hooks, hook size and grain yield were measured. Subsequent to the variance analysis, data related to the control cultivars, and also estimation of blocks effects and amending each studied treatment on the studied traits, the relation between evaluated traits and grain yield were studied. Results suggested that there is a positive significance relation between the green percentage, hook size, plant height, 100 pods weight, 100 seeds weight, biomass and number of filled pods on the one hand and the grain yield on the other. Step-by-step multiple Regression results indicated that among the studied traits, biomass and number of secondary branches explain more than 84% of the grain yield changes so that, the increase in biomass and decrease in number of secondary branches, increase the yield. Cluster analysis divided studied genotypes into three groups in which, the first group with genotype numbers of 1, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15 and 21 was the best group. According to the protein data, the highest number of protein band (22) were observed in genotype numbers of 8, 21 and control genotype number of 27 while the lowest number of protein band (16) were observed in genotype numbers of 19 and 20, so that bands numbers of 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15 and 16 with respective molecule weight of 118.35, 112.71, 99.77, 86.17, 80.09, 44.58, 42.46, 40.43 and 38.51 KD a were diagnosed as polymorphism bands. According to the protein data, genotypes were divided into three groups in which the third group with 12 genotypes of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 15, 20 and 22 had a higher value as the delayed, high yielding and long-legged genotypes along with most of studied traits. The farthest distances from protein bands were related to the genotypes numbers of 23 with 14, 17, 18 and 19. Results suggested that grouping based on morphologic data was to 35% consistent with protein data. [Parisa Aghili * , Ali Akbar Imani and Yousef Alaei. A study on genetic diversity in lentil genotypes using seeds morphologic and protein traits. Life Sci J 2012;9(4):4099-4106]. (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com . 609 Keywords: genetic diversity, morphological traits, protein, lentil, electrophoresis Introduction Morphological indicators indicate the variety in shape or yield in plants. Emergence of awn, pigments, reaction to hormones, herbicides and diseases are among such indicators. However, phenotypic assessments have limited application due to the environment effects on gene expression, dominance and epistatic effects, presence of pleiotropy, changes in gene penetration, dependence on the tissue and developmental stages, assessment tests being time consuming and the limited genetic information obtained (Musavizade, 2006). Protein indicators represent the variation in protein products of genes. Isozyme and endosperm protein compounds are of this type. There are some biochemical methods presented based on electrophoresis of seed proteins and enzymes whose usefulness have been proved in the analysis of genetic diversity. Using various alleles of one or multi-locus forms, these methods identify the differences between seed storage proteins or coded enzymes. Using biochemical methods could omit the environmental effects. However, its usefulness is limited due to its inability to detect low levels of diversity, limited genome coverage, non- random distribution and its limitations in number (Bozorgi, 1994). In most cases, seeds are considered as the sources for protein, for they represent a certain stage in a plant lifetime. For instance, varieties related to a leaf growth could limit their protein pattern for taxonomic purposes. In addition, seeds are great protein sources and obtain enough protein for electrophoresis. The main reason to use seed stored proteins electrophoresis patterns in categorization is due to proteins being relatively direct products of genes. Hence, it is believed that these patterns could represent criteria in genetic similarities and differences among comparing plants. Using seeds protein patterns in systematic studies is based on this