Evaluation for wax gourd grafting rootstocks and correlation analysis between yield and other traits

ObjectiveIn this stury,disease resistance,grafting survival rate,photosynthesis characters,agronomic traits and yield of grafting wax gourds on different rootstocks were identified,and correlation and yield between the other characteristics were also studied in order to set reliable selection indexes for rootstocks and provide suitable wax gourd grafting rootstock varieties for cultivation.MethodWith no-grafting wax gourd as control,in this experiment,evalua-tions on wax gourd wilt disease resistance,root-knot nematode resistance,grafting survival rate,morphological traits and photosynthesis characters of 17 grafting seedlings on different rootstocks were conducted. Clustering analysis was carried out on experiment data,and correlation between yield and other traits was also analyzed.ResultThere were differences in the traits of tested materials. The tested rootstocks were classified into three groups based on clustering analysis: incompatible rootstock,high-yield rootstok and low-yield rootstock. According to correlation analysis for the traits,significant positive correlations were found between yield and node number,inter-node length,leaf number,leaf length,leaf width,stem diameter,net photosynthetic rate,single fruit weight,fruit length and fruit section girth(P<0.05,the same below). Significant negative correlation was found between yield and intercellular CO2 concentration.ConclusionThese high-yield rootstocks,such as Haizhen 1,Haizhen 2,Tiejiangjun and Tiemuzhen,can be directly used in wax gourd cultivation. Leaf length and width of grafting wax gourd seedlings can be used as identification indexes to select high-yield rootstock for wax gourd grafting.