Random amplified polymorphic DNA variation within and among meadow bromegrass progeny types

Ten meadow bromegrass genotypes tested as half‐sib (polycross, PX; open‐pollinated, OP) and selfed (S₁) progenies were surveyed using random amplified polymorphic DNA. Fourteen primers, which produced 32 markers, were selected to determine the genotypes of 360 individuals from the three progeny tests. Analysis of molecular variance was performed in each progeny test, and genetic distances between genotypes and progeny types were determined. Among genotype genetic variation in half‐sib (PX and OP) progenies was similar. Genetic variation among genotypes for S₁ progenies (30.5%) was about twice that found in the half‐sib progenies. Variation between individual S₁ progenies ranged from 15.7% to 50.1%, while in the half‐sib progenies, the range was 6.9‐24.1%. Based on average distances between progeny types for a given genotype, OP and PX were closer to each other than to the S₁. An analysis of variance of the molecular marker frequency occurrence was performed for 12 plants within each progeny type of each genotype. Marker frequencies, expressed in percentages, ranged from 10.7% to 84.3%. No significant differences were found for genotype and progeny type‐genotype interaction suggesting that all genotypes behave in a similar manner across the different progeny types.     

Estimating the genetic relationship of hybrid bromegrass to smooth bromegrass and meadow bromegrass using RAPD markers

The two most widely grown bromegrass species in North America are smooth bromegrass, a hay type grass, and meadow bromegrass, a pasture type grass. Hybrid populations between these two species have been developed through hybridization and recurrent selection. The objective of this study was to determine the genetic relatedness of the hybrid bromegrass population S‐9073M to its parental populations using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers and to determine genetic variation within and between populations. Individuals from each of the three populations were genotyped at 43 polymorphic RAPD loci. One of the RAPD fragments was meadow bromegrass‐specific. Cluster analysis showed three groups representing the two parental populations and the hybrid population. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), showed that the hybrid population had the highest within‐population variation, followed by meadow bromegrass and smooth bromegrass. The interpopulation genetic distance (phi‐statistic =Φ_st) was highest between meadow and smooth bromegrass and lowest between smooth and hybrid bromegrass. The hybrid population was genetically intermediate to smooth bromegrass and meadow bromegrass, but closer to smooth bromegrass, possibly reflecting the selection criteria used in the development of this hybrid.     

Genetic variation,heritability and path-analysis in landraces of bread wheat from southwestern Iran

Summary Nine pure lines of bread wheat collected from landraces of southwestern Iran and one local Iranian cultivar from the same area were used to estimate genetic variation and heritability for 12 developmental and yield component characters. Path-analysis was used to partition the genetic correlations between some of the characters into direct and indirect effects. Mean values for these lines were also compared with those of five improved cultivars from Iran and California. The goal of the experiment is to breed improved landraces and/or modern cultivars for areas of low input agriculture in southern California, southwestern Iran, and regions with similar environmental and agronomic conditions.Moderate genetic variation was displayed by the number of effective heads per plant, number of grains per head, and grain weight in the landrace genotypes. The heritability estimates ranged from 43 to 97%. Expected genetic advance with selection of the highest 5%, expressed as percent of the mean, was around 20% for number of heads per plant, number of grains per head, and 1000-grain weight.Days to booting, to heading, and to anthesis were positively correlated but none of them were significantly associated with days to maturity. Plant height had a negative genetic correlation with number of grains per head, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, and harvest index. The genetic correlation between number of heads per plant and number of grains per head, 1000-grain weight, and harvest index was also significantly negative. Harvest index had a negative genetic correlation with days to booting, to maturity, plant height, number of heads per plant, and straw yield and a positive correlation with number of grains per head, 1000-grain weight, and grain yield.Days to maturity, plant height, number of heads per plant, number of grains per head, 1000-grain weight, and harvest index each had a positive direct effect on grain yield. The first two characters exhibited the highest and lowest direct effects, respectively. The positive direct effects of days to maturity, plant height, and number of heads per plant, however, were partially or completely counter-balanced by their strong negative indirect effects through number of grains per head, 1000-grain weight, and harvest index. Pathanalysis indicated that late and tall landrace genotypes tend to produce more heads per plant, but with fewer number of grains per head, smaller grains, and lower harvest index.Comparisons between the local lines and the improved cultivars revealed that, in general, the former were much taller and produced a larger number of non-effective tillers. Mean number of grains per head, grain weight, harvest index, and grain yield of local lines were smaller than those of improved cultivars.Our observations indicate that the landraces could be improved by selecting for shorter genotypes with smaller numbers of tillers per plant, but with larger numbers of grains per head and heavier grains.     

Genetic variation for resistance to Phytophthora fragariae var. rubi in red raspberries

Summary The inheritance of root rot resistance in red raspberry, caused by Phytophtora fragariae var. rubi, was investigated using two experimental breeding designs. Design A was not randomly mated and genetic parameters could not be calculated. Design B was therefore randomly mated to make it possible to do such estimations. Considerable genetic variation was associated with the recorded traits on seedlings tested in a glasshouse. Disease index and % survival were both found to be highly heritable with broad sense heritabilities (H²) close to 0.9 in each design. Estimates of narrow sense heritability (h²), indicated that progress towards resistance would be moderate. In the first design the cultivars Festival, Asker, Boyne and Sentry and the clones N85-02-13 and N85-06-140 had high general combining abilities. Some crosses had a high specific combining ability indicating the presence of non-additive genetic variation.     

Genetic variation for pod wall proportion in Lupinus albus

The proportion of pod walls is considered as a potential selection criterion for seed yield in white lupin. It has a negative and highly significant phenotypic relationship with the seed yield and the genetic correlation between both traits is negative and high. The present study over 2 years (1996 and 1998) evaluated the genetic variation of proportion of pod walls in a set of 325 spring‐sown white lupin accessions originating from 17 different countries. Wide ranges of variation for this trait and other pod components were observed. This variation has a geographical distribution. Egyptian ecotypes had the lowest proportions of pod walls while the Greek and Italian ecotypes had the highest. The between‐country range of variation for the proportion of pod walls, was lower than the within‐country range (0.25‐0.31 and 0.21‐0.36, respectively) and the within‐country variance accounted for 51% of the total genetic variation. The broad‐sense heritabilities of pod wall proportion and proportion of pod walls for one full locule were moderate (0.44 and 0.57, respectively), which indicates that the proportion of pod walls can be used in breeding.     

Genetic variation and heritability of forage yield in Mediterranean tall fescue

The genetic control of tall fescue forage yield has been poorly investigated. Full‐sib families from diallel crosses of Mediterranean germplasm were evaluated for forage yield over 34 months in a Mediterranean environment with severe drought stress (diallel 1, with 20 parents) and over 16 months under irrigation in a heated greenhouse simulating the Mediterranean temperature pattern (diallel 2, with 15 parents). Genetic parameters were estimated for fresh biomass in diallel 1 and dry‐matter yield in diallel 2. Additive genetic variance was always larger than non‐additive (dominance) variance. Narrow‐sense heritability was fairly high (h² = 0.61) in diallel 1 and moderate (h² = 0.45) in diallel 2. Predicted yield gains from one selection cycle were larger in the former diallel (23.9%) than in the latter (10.5%), suggesting that gains can be enhanced by selection under severe drought stress and over a time span sufficient to allow the variation in persistence to fully emerge. General combining ability effects of eight parents that were common to both diallel crosses were highly correlated (r = 0.94) across the contrasting evaluation environments. The extent and consistency of additive genetic effects across environments suggest that rapid improvement of forage yield is possible.     

Effects of growth regulators on callus cell growth,plant regeneration,and somaclonal variation of smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.)

Summary Immature inflorescences of smooth bromegrass were cultured on MS agar media supplemented with varying combinations of 2,4-D and kinetin. Callus was initiated from segments of young inflorescences on each medium. All of the calli were subcultured monthly for 5–6 times and transferred onto hormone-free MS medium for plant regeneration. Addition of kinetin to the basal medium stimulated shoot initiation in the callus cultures. Plantlets were regenerated only from calli grown on media containing 2 and 6 mg I^-1 2,4-D with a supplement of 0.2 mg I^-1 kinetin. No albino plantlets were produced. Morphological characteristics and dry matter yield of ten somaclones and the parental plant (SBG7) were studied in the greenhouse in a randomized complete block experiment with five replications. There was significant variation (P>0.01) among genotypes for all morphological characteristics studied. Although all somaclone heights and leaf widths were lower than those of the parental plant, the somaclone F9A, F10A, and F10B had larger tiller numbers, and leaf/stem ratio by dry weight than the parental plant. Only somaclone F9B gave higher specific leaf area and leaf area ratio than the parental plant. Almost all somaclones had the same leaf length, total dry weight, and specific leaf weight as the parental plant. The variation found in somaclones should permit selection for desirable agronomic traits.     

油松优树子代遗传变异及稳定性分析

通过51个4年生油松优树子代在3个试验点的区域试验分析,结果表明:油松家系高生长在各试验点上差异均达极显著水平,3个试验点家系遗传力0.666～0.855,遗传变异系数9.05%～10.2%,遗传增益显著;家系×地点的互作效应达到显著水平,根据Eberhat和Russell模式对油松家系进行稳定性分析,结合生长表现将参试家系划分为5种类型,其中速生稳定型家系18个,平均遗传增益28%以上.     

Evaluating genetic variation and relationships among two bromegrass species and their hybrid using RAPD and AFLP markers

The two most widely grown bromegrass species in North America are smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.), a hay type grass, and meadow bromegrass (Bromus riparius Rehmann), a pasture type grass. Recently a hybrid bromegrass population between the two species has been produced as a dual-purpose hay-pasture grass. Molecular markers have the potential to improve selection procedures to enhance bromegrass breeding. The objective of this study was to use RAPD and AFLP markers to determine genetic relationships and variations among bromegrass populations. Forty-three RAPD markers from 21 primers and 83 AFLP markers from seven primer combinations were used. Both marker types were able to group the individuals into their respective populations. The relationships among the individuals within each of the populations were not similar between the two marker types. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) detected greater within-population variation than among-population variation for both marker types. The highest variation was observed in the hybrid population followed by meadow and then smooth bromegrass. The inter-population distance from both markers indicated that the highest genetic distance was between meadow and smooth bromegrass and lowest between smooth and hybrid bromegrass, which reflect the breeding history of the hybrid population. This study showed that both markers are capable of differentiating bromegrass genotypes into their respective populations, detecting genetic variation and relationships of the populations. Results of this study suggest that these two markers can be used in the future to enhance the current breeding practices in bromegrass, however, AFLP markers would be the marker of choice due to the high number of polymorphic markers. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Genetic variation within eight populations of perennial forage grasses

Information on both mean performance and genetic variation is important in determining the value of germplasm for breeding via recurrent selection. The objectives of this experiment were to evaluate different methods of controlling spatial variation for forage yield, and to estimate genetic variances and heritability in eight perennial forage grass populations. Polycross families of two populations of smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.), two populations of hybrid wheatgrass (Elytrigia×muctonata (Opiz ex. Bercht.) Prokud.), and four populations of orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) were field tested for 2 years. Spatial variation was present in all three progeny tests, but was well accounted for by either the incomplete block design or a nearest neighbour analysis (NNA) of yield potentials. Low rank correlations between adjusted family means for the incomplete block design vs. the NNA created the unanswered question of which would provide a more appropriate estimate of family mean performance. Genetic variation was detected in six out of eight populations for forage yield, four out of six populations for ground cover, all four orchardgrass populations for maturity and one of four orchardgrass populations for leafspot reaction (caused by Drechslera spp.). Excessive year-family interactions prevented detection of genetic variation for leafspot reaction in the other populations. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.30 to 0.42 for forage yield. In all three species, there was a trend toward a negative relationship between population mean and genetic variance, suggesting that less elite populations may need to contribute other traits to be useful in the short term.     

Genetic variability and heritability estimates for hardseededness and flowering in balansa clover (Trifolium michelianum Savi) populations

Suitability of annual pasture legume species like balansa clover (Trifolium michelianum Savi) in southern Australian farming systems depends on their hardseededness and time to flowering. Late maturing varieties with increased rate of hardseed breakdown, particularly in the late summer—early autumn period are desirable to ensure reliable regeneration in permanent pastures. Two half-sib family balansa clover populations were used to estimate heritability for the rate of breakdown of hardseededness and time to flowering. High narrow-sense heritability estimates (90.5–96.1%, rate of hardseed breakdown; 85.9–94.5%, time to flowering) were obtained, and were mainly attributed to additive gene effects. There was no relationship between rate of hardseed breakdown and time to flowering in Group1 half-sib family, which indicated that selection for both traits could be undertaken independently. In half-sib family Group 2 the relationship between the two traits suggested the possibility of selecting late maturing cultivars with increased rate of hardseed breakdown. Significant differences in time to flowering and rate of hardseed breakdown both within and between the two half-sib family groups suggested that phenotypic recurrent selection would be effective in improving the traits in these populations.     

Genetic and environmental influences on chickpea water‐use efficiency

Chickpea is a major crop grown for its nutritional value, and it is used for both food and feed. However, terminal drought greatly reduces grain yield in many chickpea producing areas. The impacts of drought could be mitigated by adapting chickpea genotypes with higher water‐use efficiency (WUE). To assess genetic variation for WUE, contrasting genotypes were sown in two moisture regimes (well‐watered and water‐limited) and two tillage regimes (tillage and no‐tillage) in north‐western NSW across two consecutive seasons. The well‐watered and no till treatments were higher yielding than their respective rainfed and tillage treatments. Genotypes did not differ (p < 0.05) in their water use but differed significantly in their WUE, and a significant genotype‐by‐moisture treatment effect was observed. The heritability of WUE was higher under tillage (71.3% for tillage under rainfed conditions and 73.0% for tillage and irrigated conditions) than no‐till (43.3% for no till under rainfed conditions and 36.4% for no‐till and irrigated conditions), and no significant genotype‐by‐tillage interaction was observed.     

Genetic variation and control of plant regeneration in leek (Allium ampeloprasum L.)

Zygotic embryos of leek (Allium ampeloprasum L.) were isolated from mature seeds of different cultivars, selfings and full-sib families. The embryos were cultured on callus induction and shoot regeneration medium and employed to study several parameters: percentage of embryos forming calluses, percentage of embryos forming compact calluses, callus weight, percentage of regenerating calluses, numbers of shoot primordia and numbers of regenerated shoots. Differences between cultivars and selfings were found for most parameters studied. For all cultivars all parameters, except callus weight, decreased after one generation of selfing. Compact callus types enhanced primordia formation and shoot regeneration. Genetic characteristics of callus development and plant regeneration were studied in a 4 × 4 diallel cross. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences between full-sib families. The diallel analysis showed that additive gene effects were significant for all parameters. The predominance of additive gene effects indicated high narrow-sense heritability. Breeding for an increased number of regenerated shoots was successful.     

Genetic variation of germination cold tolerance in Japanese rice germplasm

Low temperatures at the initial stages of rice development prevent fast germination and seedling establishment and may cause significant productivity losses. In order to develop rice cultivars exhibiting cold tolerance, it is necessary to investigate genetic resources, providing basic knowledge to allow the introduction of genes involved in low temperature germination ability from accessions into elite cultivars. Japanese rice accessions were evaluated at the germination under two conditions: 13°C for 28 days (cold stress) and 28°C for seven days (optimal temperature). The traits studied were coleoptile and radicle length under optimal temperature, coleoptile and radicle length under cold and percentage of the reduction in coleptile and radicle length due to low temperature. Among the accessions studied, genetic variation for traits related to germination under low temperatures was observed and accessions exhibiting adequate performance for all investigated traits were identified. The use of multivariate analysis allowed the identification of the genotypes displaying cold tolerance by smaller reductions in coleoptile and radicle lenght in the presence of cold and high vigour, by higher coleoptile and radicle growth under cold.     

Breeding for impact resistance in potato: use of a pendulum in progeny testing

Breeding for impact resistance in potato is common at the end of a breeding scheme, where there is no more variability for it. The purpose of this study was to propose an objective progeny test using a pendulum and single-year data. Data were recorded over a 5-year period using 275 progenies, organized in small factorial and hierarchical designs. The variability of response of the additive variance made it impossible to generalize parental choice. However, once the crosses were made, the high degree of variability among the progenies and the high level of broad-sense heritability in every case suggest that selection can be carried out efficiently using single-year data.     

Heritability estimates and progeny testing of phenotypic selections for soluble solids content in dehydrator onion

Soluble solids comprise most of onion bulb dry mass, and dehydrator onion cultivars are developed from breeding populations that have high dry mass content. Realized and narrow-sense heritability estimates were obtained for the soluble solids content (SSC) trait in two open-pollinated dehydrator onion breeding populations (BP) using response to selection and half-sib family analysis. Parental populations, designated as BP9335-U and BP9243-U, were derived from two-way crosses of lines advanced as open- pollinated (OP) populations to the F7 or F_6 generation, respectively. BP9335-U had one previous selection cycle for increased SSC and BP9243-U had three SSC selection cycles. In these experiments, parental populations were screened again for high SSC, and selected bulbs were intermated to form half-sib progeny groups, designated as BP9335-S and BP9243-S. Mean SSC was increased by 6.6% and a realized heritability estimate of 0.64 was obtained for BP9335-S. Mean SSC was increased by 6.3% and a realized heritability estimate of 0.36 was obtained for BP9243-S. Narrow-sense heritability estimates of 0.58 ±0.05 and 0.30 ±0.03 were obtained for parental populations BP9335-U and BP9243-U, respectively. Narrow-sense heritability estimates of 0.40 ± 0.03 and 0.63 ± 0.23 were obtained for progeny populations derived from selected high-SSC bulbs of these lines (BP9335-S and BP9243-S), respectively, indicating that there is significant additive genetic control of the SSC trait in these populations. Significant differences in half-sib family performance in the advanced groups BP9335-S and BP9243-S demonstrate that progeny testing was effective for evaluating phenotypic selections. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Prediction of barley progeny performance in the presence of genotype environment interaction

Twenty recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations of European two‐row spring barley and their parents were tested in six environments in the Netherlands to investigate the prediction of progeny yield level, yield variance, stability level and stability variance, based on parent information. Progeny yield level is positively correlated with midparent value for average yield. Progeny yield variance is more difficult to predict, but there does appear to be a promising negative correlation between progeny yield variance and Habgood's (1977) parental similarity measure. To quantify yield stability, three statistics were calculated: Finlay and Wilkinson's (1963) regression coefficient b_i, Shukla's (1972) stability variance σs_i² and Eberhart and Russell's (1966) mean squared deviation d_i². The first stability statistic describes a different aspect of the response pattern to change in environment from the last two. Parents with high b_i values appear to have a better average yield, i.e. they react more positively to an improvement in the environment than the other genotypes. The average b_i value of the progeny is positively correlated with the midparent value, indicating its heritable nature. There are also indications that d_i² and σ_i² are heritable but their repeatability is poor. Therefore, it is concluded that only prediction of bi is useful in practical plant breeding. There is a positive correlation between progeny yield variance and progeny variance for b_i but we conclude that the inaccuracy of the stability variance estimates is too high for good predictors for progeny stability variance to be found.     

Genetic variation in wheat cadmium accumulation on soils with different cadmium concentrations

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in wheat genotypes of spring bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and spring durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum) was studied in field trials every third week throughout the growing season. The study was carried out in Sweden on three different soils and during two growing seasons. The results showed that the genetic variation in shoot and grain Cd accumulation remained consistent, regardless of soil type or growing season. In addition, it was possible to select the genotype that accumulated most Cd already at the beginning of the growing season, since this genotype also accumulated most Cd in the vegetative tissues of the shoot. These results indicate that it is possible to identify genotypes that accumulate most Cd in the grain at an early plant development stage. High Cd concentrations in the shoot were also observed to give high Cd concentrations in the grain. This indicates that the regulatory mechanism for grain Cd accumulation is not located in the shoot, but in the root or as a feature of root Cd uptake. The soil material and the soil solution at all three sites were analysed for strongly bound Cd (as extracted with 2 m HNO₃), more easily plant‐available Cd (as extracted with ammonium lactate), pH, organic matter, clay content and conductivity. None of these parameters was clearly correlated to the Cd concentration in the grain.     

Genetic variation in drought resilience-related traits among wheat multiple synthetic derivative lines: insights for climate resilience breeding

Twenty-four wheat lines, developed by Aegilops tauschii Coss. introgressions and previously selected for heat or salinity stress tolerance, were evaluated under a drought-rewatering-drought cycle for two years. The objective was to select breeding lines that are resilient to more than one abiotic stress. The experiment was designed in alpha lattice with three replications. Drought was imposed by withholding water during flowering. The results revealed considerable genetic variability in physio-agronomic traits, reflecting the variation in the introgressed segments. High heritability estimates (above 47%) were recorded for most traits, including days to 50% heading, plant height, and thousand-grain weight, indicating the genetic control of these traits which may be useful for cultivar development. The trait-trait correlations within and between water regimes highlighted a strong association among the genetic factors controlling these traits. Some lines exhibited superior performance in terms of stress tolerance index and mean productivity compared with their backcross parent and elite cultivars commonly grown in hot and dry areas. Graphical genotyping revealed unique introgressed segments on chromosomes 4B, 6B, 2D, and 3D in some drought-resilient lines which may be linked to drought resilience. Therefore, we recommend these lines for further breeding to develop climate-resilient wheat varieties.     

Phenotypic variation in local populations and cultivars of meadow fescue – potential for improving cultivars by utilizing wild germplasm

The utilization of gene bank accessions for breeding purposes is generally hampered by a lack of sufficient genetic and phenotypic characterization. Results are given here of a phenotypic analysis of 30 Norwegian local populations and 10 Nordic cultivars of meadow fescue, and a combined analysis of phenotypic data with previously published molecular data based on 95 amplified fragment length polymorphic markers. Seventeen phenological and morphological, and two derived characters, were assessed on 2264 individual plants. Previous molecular diversity analyses have shown that the Norwegian local populations can be divided into three groups based on a likely history of the introduction of the species into Norway. A similar pattern was evident from relationships between the mean phenotypic values of populations and cultivars. Such a combined phenotypic and genetic characterization of germplasm can facilitate the use of gene bank material in breeding, as breeders can use these data to select populations with extreme values of a field trait, along with markers which represent potential predictors of phenotypic value.