POLYMORPHISM OF OAT KERNEL SIZE AND SHAPE SEVERAL CANADIAN OAT CULTIVARS

This study used digital image analysis to quantify variation of morpho logical characteristics of oat kernels. Ten Canadian oat varieties gro wn in 1984 and 1985 at five and four locations, respectively, were exa mined. Statistically significant differences in polymorphism among var ieties collected from the same location were observed. It appeared tha t the genetic diversity of all analyzed varieties is quite high, and r esults from a broad range of kernel sizes are evenly distributed withi n population. The environment has little effect on the polymorphism of seed shape. The same varieties grown in different locations appeared to have almost the same diversity index, and the aspect ratio (AR) dep ends primarily on the genetic structure of the population. However, th e diversity index of AR for each variety calculated over all locations appeared to be almost the same.