Julius O. Amira

Bio: Julius O. Amira is an academic researcher from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. The author has contributed to research in topics: Amaranth. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 1 citations.

Traits selection criteria for genetic improvement of grain and leafy Amaranth (Amaranthus spp) using Principal Component Analysis

Abstract: Grain Amaranths are important nutritional vegetables in the world for their grains and leaves. Twelve grain Amaranth accessions were evaluated for their performances using randomized complete block design with 3 replications for 2 years to measure variability and group the accessions. Analysis of Variance and accessions performances revealed significant variability among the grain Amaranths. Phenotypic variances were higher in magnitude than genotypic variance for all the traits studied. High genetic advance was obtained for all the characters except 1000 grain weight (23.61). The genotypic coefficients of variations were lower than the phenotypic coefficient of variations. Heritability ranged from 41.08% for grain yield/plot to 62.18% for plant height at flowering. Grain yield was positive and highly significantly correlated with 1000 grain weight, leaf area but significantly correlated with leaf length and leaf width. The PCA revealed four main components of variations representing 78.06% of the total variability among the 12 grain amaranth accessions. The PCA identified all the 12 traits as strongly correlated with the three principal components. PC1 is well-correlated with Plant height at flowering, Stem girth, Number of leaves, Plant height at maturity, leaf width, leaf length, leaf area and Petiole length. The bi-plot analysis classified the accession NG/AA/03/11/010, NGB 01259, and NGB 0127 as having good leaf yield and desired leaf traits, Accession NHGB/09/108, NG/AO/08/04 and NGB 01261 were grouped as better grain yield with good yield attributes, while accession NGB 01234, NHGB 09/09 and NHAC3 are good dual purpose accessions having good grain and leaf yield.

Human biochemical genetics

Abstract: So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Morphological Characterization, Variability, and Diversity among Amaranth Genotypes from Ethiopia

Abstract: Abstract Amaranths are dicotyledonous plants with high yield potential, a high mineral uptake rate, short days, and high adaptability. It has been extensively investigated as a model C4 plant. The objectives of the current study were to estimate genetic diversity, heritability, and genetic advance for yield and yield-contributing traits of amaranth genotypes based on agro-morphological traits. The study was done on one hundred twenty amaranth genotypes planted over two growing seasons using an alpha lattice design with two replications. The analysis of variance showed the presence of significant variation (P ≤ 0.001) between genotypes, years, and their interactions for most of the studied traits. Among the genotypes, based on their performance, promising genotypes KAZ-059, 225713, KAZ-058 and KEN-019, 242530, and 212890 exhibited higher leaf area, branch number, and plant height at maturity, and plant height at flowering. Selection based on these traits could be effective for amaranth leaf yield improvement. On the other hand, KEN-016, KEN-020, KAZ-060, KEN-010, KEN-018, and 22571 produced high grain yield along with better leaf area, axillary inflorescence length, terminal inflorescence lateral length, terminal inflorescence stalk length, grain sink filling rate, and thousand seed weight, indicating phenotypic-based selection on these traits might be reliable for grain yield improvement in amaranth genotypes. These genotypes were chosen as a result due to their high yield potential and good yield-related traits. Future selection efforts for amaranth should therefore continue to evaluate the genotypes under various environmental conditions. These genotypes were selected as a result because they had a high potential for yield and desirable traits that might boost yield.