Diversity in Phenological and Agronomic Traits of Miscanthus sinensis Collected in Korea and Eastern Asia

Four-year field experiments were conducted to investigate phenotypic traits associated with the biomass yield of 173 Miscanthus sinensis accessions collected from Korea and neighboring East Asian countries. Nine phenological and agronomic traits associated with biomass yield were assessed to investigate their phenotypic diversity and relationships with biomass yield as well as the latitudes of the M. sinensis accessions collection sites. Correlation analyses among phenological and agronomic traits, biomass yield, and collection site revealed that heading date, vegetative growth duration, leaf area, and stem growth traits (stem height, stem diameter, and stem dry weight) were closely related to biomass yield. The latitude of collection site exhibited a significant negative correlation with heading date, and heading date showed a significant positive correlation with biomass yield, indicating the high biomass potential of the accessions originating from lower latitude due to longer vegetative growth. The best biomass yield was mainly observed in M. sinensis accessions from the southern parts of Korea, such as Jeolla and Jeju provinces, with over 20 Mg DM ha(-1). Agronomic traits measured in the second year after planting also showed a high correlation with biomass yield measured in the fourth year after planting. In particular, vegetative growth duration, leaf area, stem diameter, and stem dry weight measured in the second year were significantly related to the fourth-year biomass yield. Therefore, these findings suggest that agronomic traits measured in the second year can be used for screening M. sinensis genetic resources and breeding lines with high biomass yield potential.

Automated summary

This four-year field experiment investigated phenotypic traits associated with biomass yield in 173 Miscanthus sinensis accessions collected from Korea and East Asian countries, finding that traits such as heading date, vegetative growth duration, leaf area, and stem growth were closely related to biomass yield. Accessions from lower latitudes showed higher biomass potential due to longer vegetative growth. Agronomic traits measured in the second year were significantly correlated with biomass yield in the fourth year, suggesting their potential for screening high biomass yield genetic resources and breeding lines.