Germplasm characterization is essential to estimate variation and identify desirable genotypes for crop improvement. The current study was conducted on eight qualitative and 14 quantitative traits related to growth and floral attributes for characterization and grouping of 54 chrysanthemum genotypes. Wide variability was observed among most of the traits and principal component analysis revealed that the first two principal components explained most of the existing variation (>98%) in germplasm. Genotypic coefficient of variation exhibited a wide range from 9.41% (ratio of leaf length/width) to 105.99% (corolla tube length of ray florets), while phenotypic coefficient of variation varied from 10.49% (ratio of leaf length/width) to 106.38% (corolla tube length of ray florets). Broad sense heritability estimates were higher (>96%) for most of the characters, except for traits such as ratio of leaf length/width and peduncle thickness. Forty-four pair-wise inter-trait combinations showed positive genotypic and phenotypic correlations for 91 possible combinations. D2 analysis revealed that genotypes of clusters I and IV to be highly distinct, and hybridization between them might have better chance to obtain desirable types. D2 analysis confirmed that the cultivars in cluster IV namely, Red D Spoon, Tokyo Soldier, Yellow Reflex and hierarchical clustering showed that the cultivar Tokyo Soldier to be highly diverse. It is recommended to use the above genotypes in crossing programme for obtaining better progenies.

Drought stress ‘particularly at seedling stage’ causes morpho-physiological differences in wheat which are crucial for its survival and adaptability. In the present study, 209 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from synthetic wheat (W7984)× ‘Opata’ (also known as SynOpRIL) population were investigated under well-watered and water-limited conditions to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for morphological traits at seedling stage. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences (P < 0.01) among RILs, and water treatments for all traits with moderate to high broad sense heritability. Pearson's coefficient of correlation revealed positive correlation among all traits except dry root weight that showed poor correlation with fresh shoot weight (FSW) under water-limited conditions. A high-density linkage map was constructed with 2639 genotyping-by-sequencing markers and covering 5047 cM with an average marker density of 2 markers/cM. Composite interval mapping identified 16 QTL distributed over nine chromosomes, of which six were identified under well-watered and 10 in water-limited conditions. These QTL explained from 4 to 59% of the phenotypic variance. Six QTL were identified on chromosome 7B; three for shoot length under water-limited conditions (QSL.nust-7B) at 64, 104 and 221 cM, two for fresh root weight (QFRW.nust-7B) at 124 and 128 cM, and one for root length (QRL.nust-7B) at 122 cM positions. QFSW.nust-7B appeared to be the most significant QTL explaining 59% of the phenotypic variance and also associated with FSW at well-watered conditions. These QTL could serve as target regions for candidate gene discovery and marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding.