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Wheat Information Service
Number 75: 31-35 (1992)


Utilization of short-stemmed common wheat, Tom Pouce Blanc for common and durum wheat breeding. I. Analysis in F₁ and F₂

S. Tsvetkov

Institut for Wheat and Sunflower, General Toshevo, Bulgaria


Summary

New original common and durum types of wheat were found in F₂ population derived from hybridization of the short-stemmed common wheat Tom Pouce Blanc (Triticum aestivum ssp vulgare) with the tall-stemmed durum wheats No.13 and No.1522 (T. turgidum ssp durum), suggesting successful breeding of short stem (61-80 cm) cultivar with high seed set per the spike (51-80 grains). It was also found that the genetic effect for the short stem of Tom Pouce Blanc is incompletely dominant, and moreover mean plant height of F₁'s is about 15% shorter than that of midparents in the crosses involved Tom Pouce Blanc.


Introduction

In connection with development of genetic diversity in wheat breeding, great possibilities are revealed in the interspecific hybridization between T. aestivum ssp vulgare X T. turgidum ssp durum. From this view point the short-stemmed common wheat Tom Pouce Blanc (Zeven 1969, Rudenko and Udachin 1969, Gale et al 1981) is particular interest. On its basis, a great diversity in hybrid progenies derived from crossing between common and different durum forms, was released, that is lines differing in stem height and spike productivity (Tsvetkov 1973).


Materials and methods

Six interspecific crosses between T. aestivum ssp vulgare and T. turgidum ssp durum were done. The common wheat, Avrora (Russia), Tom Pouce Blanc (Tibet) and the durum wheats, No.13 (Bulgaria), No.1522 (Bulgaria) were used as parents. The comparison of the results obtained was done with the interspecific hybrids of Avrora and No.13 or No.1522


Results and discussion

1. Plant height and fertility in F₁
Two common wheat cultivars, Avrora and Tom Pouce Blanc differ from each other in plant height. Avrora is 105.5 cm, while Tom Pouce Blanc is 48.7 cm (Table1). In the hybrids with the two cultivars of durum, No.13 and No.1522, the genotypes of these two common wheats showed a rather different response regarding the plant height. The plant height observed in the F₁ of Avrora with the tall-stemmed durum wheats No.13 and No.1522 was complete dominance (dominance degree: +0.96 and +0.89) in the direction of the tall-stemmed parents (No.13 and No.1522). On the contrary, the inheritance of the plant height in the crosses of the short-stemmed common wheat Tom Pouce Blanc with the same durum wheats was incompletely dominant (dominance degree: -0.43 and -0.57), but the directions towards the short-stemmed cultivar Tom Pouce Blanc. Essential difference were not found between reciprocal crosses (Fig.1).

The fertility of the interspecific F₁ hybrids with short-stemmed common wheat Tom Pouce Blanc, varied from 42.44 to 48.34% compared to 61.55 to 84.37% for the parents.

2. Potentialities for selection of forms with a short stem and high productivity in F₂
In F₂ progenies between common and durum wheats there was a very large morphological segregation (groups: ssp vulgare, ssp durum, intermediate, compactum, spelta types, etc.). This investigations showed that all F₂ plants with ssp vulgare like spike had chromosomes of 36 to 41. On the contrary, those with ssp durum like spike had chromosomes of 29 to 34. There is a possibility of common and durum types with varied productivity and plant height to be bred. In this respect, the research on cross combinations to produce plants with a short stem and high productivity is of great importance for the breeding of these two useful grain crops.

This investigation suggests that in the interspecific crossing of the short-stemmed common wheat Tom Pouce Blanc with the durum wheat cultivar No.13 and No.1522, there are significantly higher possibilities for a selection of short-stemmed forms of common and durum wheat with high productivity (Fig. 2). For example, in F₂ population of the cross Tom Pouce Blanc x No.1522, the frequency of common wheat type with short (41-90 cm) plant height and many grains in a spike (41-90) are 11.9%, while the percentage in the durum wheat type is 12.6 (Table 2). This is also the case in the cross Tom Pouce Blanc x No. 13, where the number of common wheat type with short plant height and many grains per spike was 9.7%, and in durum type 12.5% in the F₂ progeny.


References

Gale MD, Marshall GA and Rao MV (1981) A classification of the Norin 10 and Tom Thumb dwarfing genes in British, Mexican, Indian and other hexaploid bread wheat varieties. Euphitica 30: 355-361.

Rudenko MI and Udachin PA (1969) Importance of the short-stemmed wheats in breeding under irrigation conditions. Journal of Agricultural Science 4: 18-26.

Tsvetkov S (1973) Ble Tom Pouce BI. (T. aestivum L.), a source of solid stem genes. Wheat Information Service 38: 25-27.

Zeven AC (1969) Tom Pouce Blanc and Tom Pouce Barby Rouge, two Triticum aestivum sources of very short straw. Wheat Information Service 29: 8-9.

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