Collection and production area evaluation of wild Camellia oleifera Abel.germplasm resources in central Jiangxi Province
[Objective]Camellia oleifera Abel.is a woody oil plant with high economic value.Investigation and collection of wild Camellia oleifera germplasm resources in Ji'an,Fuzhou and Xinyu in the central region of Jiangxi Province,and the exploration of the rich genetic diversity of wild Camellia oleifera Abel.is important for promoting the sustainable development of Camellia oleifera industry.[Method]Based on the abundant Camellia oleifera resources in central Jiangxi Province,this study employed ANOVA,correlation analysis,principal component analysis,and cluster analysis to thoroughly examine the leaf and fruit features of wild Camellia oleifera from 15 distinct production locations.Additionally,this study discussed the restrictive factors affecting the development of Camellia oleifera industry and proposed countermeasures and suggestions.[Result]Wild Camellia oleifera was mostly distributed on low hills 600 meters above sea level in central Jiangxi Province.However,most of them had low yields due to lack of proper management.The degree of variation of each trait in different producing areas was significantly different.The leaf heritability in Fuzhou area was rich,and FZ-2 was the most prominent.The coefficient of variation of fruit traits in Xinyu area was high.JA-6 was significantly superior to other producing areas in fruit size,and JA-2 was rich in genetic material in fruit shape.There was a significant correlation between leaf traits.Pericarp thickness and the quantity of seeds per fruit had a negative correlation with dry seed output,whereas leaf length and area had a marginally positive correlation with fruit size characteristics.The findings of the comprehensive evaluation indicated that the cumulative variance contribution rate of the first three principal components was 81.646%.Principal components 1,2 and 3 represented the fruit size factor,degree of seed fullness,and leaf traits,respectively.The 15 production areas were divided into three major groups by cluster analysis,and JA-6,JA-7,and FZ-4 performed better overall,while XY-1 had a high kernel emergence rate and FZ-5 and JA-5 were full of seeds.XY-1 had a high kernel rate.[Conclusion]Jiangxi Province's central region has abundant wild Camellia oleifera germplasm resources,which offer a rich genetic material foundation for the selection and breeding of high-yielding varieties.It is advisable to select key research areas for in-depth investigation and research according to different breeding objectives.