Interrelationships of quantitative traits and isozymic markers in alfalfa half-sib families

In this study, the relationships between some quantitative traits and enzyme markers in 12 half-sib families of alfalfa resulted from polycross nursery, were investigated in the Agricultural Research Station of University of Tabriz. First, thirty five individuals of each family were grown in separate pots in the from of completely randomized design at field conditions and then, they were analyzed for two enzymatic system by slab acrylamide gels. Statistical analysis of different data based on isozyme interpretation showed that there were a significant relationships between peroxidase and seedling traits. In addition, the presence of a band increased the mean values of related traits. Furthermore, POX-4 isozyme showed a significant relationship with respect to leaf weight. Statistical analysis of the studied traits based on allozyme interpretation showed that EST-b1 and POX-b2 had a positive correlation with both yield and number of internodes. Thus, it might be possible to use these enzymes as markers to select alfalfa genotypes in the early breeding stages after the stability of markers were verified in other experiments.