Breeders typically use core collections of a specific trait or core collections selected by a few genotypes to efficiently select breeding materials or to study functional genes. As a result, many accessions have been deemed redundant or duplicated and are no longer considered for use. This study aimed to investigate the agronomical characteristics and genetic diversity of 1,514 previously unused and unstudied wheat germplasms and to confirm their value as breeding materials using population structure analysis. The performance of these wheat germplasms was compared with that of 8,878 wheat breeding materials and 72 known Korean wheat cultivars. The results of agronomic trait diversity comparison showed that the germplasm populations used for breeding research did not completely encompass the unused germplasm populations. The agronomic traits of wheat germplasms varied greatly. ANOVA and PCA results revealed the greatest differences in growth habits (CV=0.339), panicle length (CV=0.330), and awn length (CV=0.296). To accurately assess the value of unused wheat germplasms as breeding materials, 106 SSR markers were extracted from the analysis of four representative Korean cultivars: Geuru, Geumgang, Uri, and Jokyoung. Among these, 24 SSR markers were chosen, and 129 wheat resources were subjected to population structure analysis, which revealed five subpopulations. Most of the 34 germplasms that originated in Korea were distributed in subpopulation 1 (18 accessions, 52.9%) and subpopulation 4 (12 accessions, 35.3%). Subgroups 2, 3, and 5 differed significantly in agronomic traits and genotypes, indicating their potential as breeding materials. The findings of this study could serve as a foundation for breeders and aid in the discovery and utilization of new wheat breeding materials.

In this study, watermelon accessions introduced from the USDA were characterized for 12 morphological characteristics of leaf, flower, fruit, and seed, according to the National Agrobiodiversity Center descriptor list. In addition, to confirm the genetic composition of each watermelon accession, genetic profiling was performed using 20 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A total of 154 watermelon accessions from the USDA were collected from 31 different countries, among which, 12.3% (19 accessions) were from Turkey. Morphological characterization revealed that the accessions displayed a large diversity. Genetic profiling using 20 SSR markers showed that six accessions (K192117, K192028, K193400, K192376, K192499, and K192800) were expected to be inbred lines among the 154 watermelon accessions. The 12 characters scored were analyzed using discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC). The result revealed 68.1% of the total variability and indicated variations among accessions, mainly based on fruit stripes and fruit shape along the longitudinal section. The accessions were divided into eight groups according to DAPC, although the geographical origin was not a great source for the grouping. Our results will be helpful for the efficient management of germplasms and in understanding and selecting watermelon accessions for the breeding process.

A statistical analysis of 9,771 non-glutinous rice in breeding line germplasm collected from Korea (2,836), China (2,136), Japan (1,219), and the Philippines (1,213) was conducted using normal distribution, variability index value (VIV), analysis of variation (ANOVA) and Ducan’s multiple range test (DMRT) based on the data obtained from NIRS analysis. According to the normal distribution, the average protein content was 7.9%, and non-glutinous rice ranging over 10% amylose had 23.6% average content. Most resources were between 5.3 and 10.5% in protein content, and 15.7 and 31.5% in amylose content. The VIV was 0.54 for protein, and 0.83 for amylose. The average amylose content was 25.18%, 24.54%, 22.08%, and 21.47% in Filipino, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese resources, respectively, wheereas the average protein content was found to be 8.19%, 7.79%, 7.58%, and 7.42% in Filipino, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese resources, respectively. The ANOVA of amylose and protein content showed significant differences at the level of 0.01. The F-test value was 412.2 for amylose content, and 108.4 for protein when compared with the critical value of 3.78. The DMRT of amylose and protein content showed significant differences (p<0.01) among resources from different countries. The Filipino resources had the highest level of amylose and protein content, whereas; the lowest level of amylose and protein content were found in Japanese when compared with resources of other origins. These results are recommended as helpful materials in the field of breeding.