Variation of agronomic characters among and between guayule lines

A selected group of 42 guayule (Parthenium argentatum Gray) lines were evaluated on the basis of various morphological characteristics and compared to a total population of 234 lines. The objective of this study was to determine the amount of variation that existed both within and among guayule lines over a 2-year period. The parental lines all reproduced apomictically, and as expected, many lines exhibited a high degree of uniformity for every measured character. However, many other lines were extremely variable for varying numbers of characters. This appears to be due to varying degrees and combinations of apomeiosis, thus establishing a long-term source of genetic variation. The high amount of variability existing among and within these guayule lines indicates that significant progress by selection for both rubber percentage and yield is feasible.