Genetic divergence and correlations between characters of transgenic soybean cultivars

This study aimed to evaluate the genetic divergence, the relative contribution of variables to the dissimilarity and the direct and indirect participation of the characters with the grain yield of commercial varieties of transgenic soybean first (RR) and second (intacta RR2 PRO) generation. Eight morphological characteristics of a quantitative nature were analyzed, 42 cultivars in the harvest 2014/2015 in Londrina, PR, Brazil, in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The Mahalanobis distance based the UPGMA cluster and canonical variable technique analysis. The relative contribution of the characteristics was calculated by Singh method and path analysis allowed us to estimate the direct and indirect participation of the variables with the grain yield. The 50% genetic distance was the formation of five groups by UPGMA method, with similar results to those obtained in the study of canonical variables. The largest relative contribution to the dissimilarity of the cultivars was provided by hundred grains mass, with the highest direct effect on grain yield, low participation of indirect effects.