Discriminating Russet Norkotah intraclonal selections using canonical and cluster analysis

Intraclonal selection has been used to develop improved versions of existing popular potato cultivars. The approach is usually undertaken to overcome trait deficiencies that limit production/acceptance of the cultivar. Because of close genetic relationships, discriminating between strains and the original cultivar is more difficult than discriminating between conventionally derived hybrid cultivars. The objective of this investigation was to determine the genetic relationship between several Russet Norkotah intraclonal selections (strains) using statistical analysis. Russet Norkotah and seven Russet Norkotah strains (TXNS102, TXNS112, TXNS223, TXNS278, TXNS296, CORN3 and CORN8) were grown in 2000 and 2001 in New Brunswick, Canada, and several plant and tuber traits were measured. Hierarchical cluster analysis and canonical discriminant analysis demonstrated that the Russet Norkotah strains differ in a significant manner from the original cultivar and are therefore distinct and unique cultivars.