Multivariate analysis of morphological variation in enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) reveals regional and clinal variation in germplasm from south and south western Ethiopia
Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) is cultivated by millions of people across Ethiopia in diverse agro-ecological and cultural settings, selecting for various agronomic traits. However, as for other underutilized crops, our understanding of the diversity and utilization of enset remains limited. This work sought to redress this limitation by estimating morphological diversity among enset accessions collected from major enset growing regions, including across altitudinal gradients. In total, landraces comprising 387 accessions originating from nine regions of Ethiopia were characterized using multivariate analysis of 15 quantitative traits. Cluster analysis grouped accessions in to five distinct classes with maximum number of accessions 338 in cluster (I) and minimum 1 in cluster (V). The clustering of accessions did not show grouping on the basis of region of origin. The first four principal components accounted for ~74% of the total variance. Linear discriminant analysis indicated that around 40.8% (160 accessions) and 45.2% (175 accession) of the studied accessions were correctly classified to their respective regions of origin altitude groups, respectively. The breadth of phenotypic differences in these 15 traits suggests significant degrees of genetic variation. These traits will be exploited to identify potential donors for future enset improvement efforts
