Response of Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] Cultivars to Genistein-Preincubated Bradyrhizobium japonicum: Nodulation and Dry Matter Accumulation under Canadian Short-Season Conditions

The addition of genistein, a plant-to-bacteria signal molecule, to Bradyrhizobium japonicum cells prior to use as inocula has been shown to increase nodule number and promote soybean N₂ fixation at low root zone temperatures. Previous greenhouse and field experiments involving only two cultivars have indicated that soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivars can vary in their response to genistein application. The objective of this study was to evaluate a range of soybean cultivars for response to genistein application under short-season cool-spring Canadian conditions. A 2-year field study was conducted in 1997 and 1998 with a range of soybean cultivars recommended for Quebec. The 11 cultivars tested represented a range of yield potentials and maturity groups. They were inoculated with genistein-preincubated B. japonicum inocula or regular inocula, applied into the furrow at the time of planting. The results of these experiments indicated that neither maturity nor yield was correlated with increases in nodulation, biomass, and plant total nitrogen content resulting from genistein treatment and that all maturity groups responded to genistein application in essentially the same way. Thus, response of soybean cultivars to genistein addition is regulated by genotype characteristics other than maturity or yield level.     

Variation in the photoperiodic response on several characters in soybean,Glycine max (L.) Merrill

Summary The photoperiodic response on 12 characters in 40 soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, cultivars were investigated using 10-hour (short day) and 16-hour (long day) photoperiods. Seventeen cultivars showed no significant difference between photoperiods for all 12 characters. Seven cultivars showed significant difference for only one trait. Phenotypic changes in 17 cultivars may be due to factors other than photoperiod. Number of pods per plant, days to maturity, and number of nodes per plant were highly correlated with yield per plant in both photoperiods. Invariably, the cultivars which had significant differences in the numbers of flowers produced per plant between the two photoperiods also had significant differences in the numbers of pods per plant and yield. First node to flower, plant height at flowering, days to flowering, nodes at flowering, and the 100-seed weight were least influenced by the photoperiods in most of the cultivars, while the height at maturity, number of nodes at maturity, number of days to maturity, and yield were most influenced.AVRDC Journal paper 46 (78–88).     

The interaction of genotype and environment in durum wheat

Summary Genotype-environment interactions for yield, final height and days to maturity were analysed by means of statistical and genetic techniques in five cultivars of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) grown for 4–5 years in 5 locations in Western Canada. Differences in the response to environment were found among genotypes for the characters studied. A significant proportion of the genotype-environmental interaction component of variation proved linearly related to the additive environmental component in two and in three cultivars and as well as in one for yield, height and days to maturity, respectively. Sensitivity to environment, as measured by the linear regression, was correlated with mean performance only in the case of height. There was a significant positive correlation between height and yield.Contribution No. 217 from the Department of Plant Science, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg 19, Manitoba.     

Phenological Development–Yield Relationships in Dry Pea in Semiarid Mediterranean Conditions

Dry pea (Pisum sativum L.) growers in the semiarid Mediterranean region require cultivars that are both early maturing and high yielding. However, negative relationships between these two characteristics limit their simultaneous improvement. A better understanding of the relative importance of the developmental stages in determining yield would assist in pea improvement. Sixteen dry pea cultivars were grown for 2 years under semiarid Mediterranean conditions (Maru, north Jordan) in order to see if differences in growing degree days (GDD) to flowering and GDD from planting to physiological maturity exist and to study their relationships with seed yield. Seed yield was negatively correlated with GDD to maturity, but not significantly correlated with GDD to flowering. Increasing GDD to flowering resulted in higher seed yield, while increasing seed fill duration had little effect. Rapid seed fill rate was positively correlated with seed weight and negatively correlated with seed fill duration. These results indicate that Mediterranean-adapted cultivars would have preflowering periods lasting as long as possible, followed by short seedfill periods. Simultaneous selection for early maturity and a relatively long time to flowering is recommended for the development of early-maturing, high-yielding cultivars adapted to semiarid Mediterranean environments.     

Uncertainty assessment of soya bean yield gaps using DSSAT‐CSM‐CROPGRO‐Soybean calibrated by cultivar maturity groups

Soya bean yield gap can be caused by different factors resulting in uncertainties when the objective is to use such information for farm decision‐making and reference yield determination. Thus, this study aimed to quantify the soya bean yield gap for four sites, located in Southern and Midwestern Brazil, as well as the uncertainties of that related to cultivars, sowing dates, soil types and reference yields. The crop simulation model DSSAT‐CSM‐CROPGRO‐Soybean was calibrated for cultivars with similar maturity groups, based on the data obtained from the best farmers at the county level. The yield gap by water deficit (YG_WD) was obtained through the difference between potential and attainable yields, and that one caused by sub‐optimum crop management (YG_CM) by subtracting actual yield of each county, obtained from official statistics between 1989/90 and 2014/15 growing seasons, from the estimated attainable yield. The yield was simulated using four sowing dates, three soil types and two soya bean maturity groups by county. The reference yield uncertainty was quantified using yield reference from crop model and regional winners of the soya bean yield context, conducted by CESB (Brazilian Soybean Strategic Committee), for the growing seasons from 2013/14 to 2015/16. The crop model showed a good agreement between measured and simulated crop development and growth using calibration by maturity group, with low root mean square error (347 kg/ha). Southern sites had a mean YG_WD of 1,047 kg/ha, while in the Midwest, it was lower than 100 kg/ha. The YG_CM was 1,067, 528, 984 and 848 kg/ha, respectively, for Castro, PR, Mamborê, PR, Montividiu, GO and Primavera do Leste, MT, representing the opportunity for yield gain when having the best farmers as reference. The maturity groups, sowing dates and soil types showed to be an important source of uncertainty for yield gap determination, being recommended to investigate the farms in detail for an appropriate quantification. The reference yield showed expressive uncertainties, with some farmers presenting conditions to increase their soya bean yields by more than 3,000 kg/ha, when considering as reference the yields obtained by the winners’ farmers. These results show that uncertainties must be reduced when assessing farm yield gaps, in order to ensure that expected rate of soya bean yield growth could be reached by adopting the same technologies from CESB winners and best farmers in the county as a reference.     

Dry Matter and Nitrogen Distribution at Maturity of Three Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Cultivars Exposed to Ammonia at Two Growth Stages

A substantial proportion of ammonical fertilizers applied to lowland rice is lost as gaseous N from the soil–plant system. Besides various environmental factors, the low N use efficiency of flooded rice is also attributed to this factor. As atmospheric ammonia found in the leaf environment of the plants could also be responsible for differences in N use efficiency and fertilizer N losses from lowland rice, a greenhouse study was conducted on three rice cultivars varying in physio-morphological characteristics for their dry matter and nitrogen distribution to grains at maturity in response to ammonia (NH₃) exposure at tillering and anthesis growth stages. The results revealed that ammonia exposure of plants at two growth stages did not affect the total dry matter and total N yield of the rice cultivars at maturity; however, the grain yield and grain N yield were negatively effected by NH₃ exposure of the plants at anthesis. The variation observed in dry matter and N partitioning at maturity to grains/roots of the plants exposed to NH₃ at anthesis indicated that the growth stage of the plants at which they are exposed to NH₃ has an influence on N use efficiency of crop plants and subsequent vegetative as well as total N losses from the soil–plant system.     

Nitrogen Nutrition of Potato Cultivars Differing in Maturity

In potato, dry matter (DM) production and partitioning between plant organs and N accumulation are affected by N application; however, since cultivars differ in these processes, N fertilization must be adjusted to each cultivar. This paper studies the response of potato cultivars differing in maturity to N fertilization in the south-east of the Buenos Aires Province (37°45'S, 58°18'W) in two growing seasons. Treatments combined four N doses (0–180 kg ha⁻¹) and four cultivars: Jaerla (early), Spunta (mid-early), Mailén INTA (medium late) and Huinkul MAG (late). DM and N content were measured in leaves, stems and tubers throughout the growing season and intercepted photosynthetically active radiation was regularly assessed. There was an increase in tuber yield up to intermediate N doses (60 kg ha⁻¹ in 1990 and 120 kg ha⁻¹ in 1991). Tuber yield was similar for Spunta and Huinkul MAG. There was no interaction between cultivar and N fertilization for tuber dry matter yield. DM partitioning to leaves and tubers during the growing season differed among cultivars, but N availability affected partitioning similarly for all cultivars. Jaerla had a high and Huinkul MAG had a low radiation use efficiency between plant emergence and the beginning of tuber formation. Jaerla, Spunta and Mailén INTA reached maximum N content in foliage at ≈60 days after emergence and Huinkul MAG 20 days later. Total N content at maturity varied between 120 and 250 kg ha⁻¹ and was affected by cultivar and N dose. The results will help to improve N fertilization recommendations and management practices as related to each cultivar under the environmental conditions of this region.     

Genetic improvement of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in Argentina: relationships between nitrogen and dry matter

Summary Changes in nitrogen (N) economy and N to dry matter (DM) relationships were studied for six cultivars of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) released in Argentina at different times between 1912 and 1980. Experiments were performed on two successive years.N partitioning to reproductive organs was changed both at anthesis and at maturity. Grain N yield (GNY) was associated to both total N accumulated and N partitioning. Most of the changes produced by genetic improvement on N economy at maturity could be explained by parallel changes at anthesis. Neither biological N yield (BNY) at anthesis nor BNY at maturity showed any trend with the year of release of the cultivars.Grain N concentration (GNC) showed a negative trend with the year of release, and was inversely correlated to both grain yield (GY) and harvest index (HI). However, GNC was positively and significantly associated with NHI to HI ratio, indicating that the main reason for its behaviour along this century was the dilution of N on non N compounds.The N utilization efficiencies (NUE) for both GY and grain number were positively affected by breeding. Moreover, modern Argentinian cultivars are as efficient as the best cultivars showed by other authors.It is suggested that to increase GNC together with GY, breeders should improve N accumulation at anthesis maintaining high remobilization of vegetative N.     

Genetic analysis of flowering and maturity time in high latitude spring wheat

Due to the short growing season in the high northern latitudes, the development of early maturing spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars is important to avoid frost damage which can lower production and quality. We investigated earliness of flowering and maturity, and some associated agronomic traits, using a set of randomly selected high northern latitude adapted spring wheat cultivars (differing in maturity) and their F₁ and F₂ crosses made in a one-way diallel mating design. The parents, and their F₁ and F₂ crosses were evaluated under field conditions over 2 years. Anthesis and maturity times were controlled by both vernalization response and earliness per se genes, mainly acting additively. Non-additive genetic effects were more important in controlling grain fill duration, grain yield and plant height. Additive × additive epistatic effects were detected for all traits studied except time to anthesis. Segregation analyses of the F₂ populations for time to anthesis indicated the presence of different vernalization response genes. Molecular genetic analyses revealed the presence of Vrn-A1 and Vrn-B1 genes in the parental cultivars. Narrow-sense heritability was medium to high (60–86%) for anthesis and maturity times but low to medium (13–55%) for grain fill duration, plant height and grain yield. Selection for early flowering/maturity in early segregating generations would be expected to result in genetic improvement towards earliness in high latitude spring wheats. Incorporation of the vernalization responsive gene Vrn-B1 in combination with vernalization non-responsive gene Vrn-A1 into spring wheats would aid in the development of early maturing cultivars with high grain yield potential for the high latitude wheat growing regions of the northern hemisphere.     

The use of grain protein deviation for identifying wheat cultivars with high grain protein concentration and yield

The relationship between grain protein concentration and grain yield in different cultivars of winter wheat was examined in a series of field experiments carried out over three years, in which 13, 12 and 8 cultivars were studied in each year, respectively. The plants were grown at sites located in Shropshire, west-central England, in years 1 and 2, and at three other locations in eastern England in year 3. Above ground plant samples were collected at an thesis and again at maturity, when they were separated into grain and straw, and analysed for dry matter and N content. Analysis of residuals from regression of grain protein concentration on grain yield (grain protein deviation, GPD) showed that some cultivars had a higher grain protein concentration than was predicted from grain yield alone. It was deduced that the capacity to accumulate a higher grain protein concentration than predicted from grain yield is under genetic control and thus may be improved through breeding. Other factors (weight of N accumulated in the biomass at anthesis, weight of N accumulated in the biomass between anthesis and maturity and the concentration of N remaining in the straw at maturity) were added step-wise into the regression to enable statistical analysis of their relative contributions to grain protein. High GPD may be achieved through increased N accumulation after anthesis, combined with efficient re-translocation of vegetative N reserves. The use of GPD provides a selection criteria in wheat breeding programs to screen for increased grain protein concentration without a concurrent grain yield reduction. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Divergent selection for sprouting resistance in spring wheat

The development of sprouting-resistant spring-wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars is a major breeding objective in many wheat-producing regions. Sprouting resistance is thought to be associated with delayed maturity. The primary objective of this study was to measure the reciprocal effects of selection for sprouting resistance and maturity. Two experiments were conducted over a 3–4-year period in Saskatoon, Canada. In the first experiment, two populations of hard red spring wheat were subjected to divergent selection (k = 10%) for maturity. In the second experiment, six populations derived from crosses between two sprouting-resistant, late-maturing, white-grained cultivars ('AUS1293' and 'AUS1408') and three early maturing, red–grained cultivars ('Park', 'PT516' and 'Roblin'), were subjected to divergent selection (k = 10%) for sprouting resistance. Selection for earliness reduced sprouting resistance in one population but had no effect in the second. For both populations, earlier maturity was associated with higher test weight but lower grain yield. In the second experiment, selection for increased sprouting resistance was effective, with realized heritabilities averaging 0.74. Increased sprouting resistance was associated with a slight delay (1–2.5 days) in time to spike emergence in four out of six populations, but had little effect on time to maturity in most populations. There was a trend towards redder grain in the sprouting-resistant selections. The recovery of sprouting-resistant, early maturing segregants was relatively low, averaging less than 10% over the six populations. In conclusion, selection for increased sprouting resistance can result in delayed maturity, but the magnitude of that delay will vary among populations.     

Screening for Drought Tolerance: Soybean Germination and its Relationship to Seedling Responses

Seventeen determinate soybean ( Glycine max L.) cultivars from maturity groups V through VIII were screened for drought tolerance during germination and seedling stages. Germinating seeds and hydroponically-grown seedlings were subjected to osmotic stresses of -0.3 and -0.5 MPa using polyethylene glycol M.W. 8000. Genotypic variability was found among the cultivars for all the parameters analyzed in both germination and seedling tests. Germination stress index was lower for seeds exposed to -0.5 MPa than for -0.3 MPa osmotic stress. Lower osmotic potential in the treatment medium was also correlated with lower leaf water potential in seedlings subjected to it. A significant relationship was found between fresh weight and height stress indices. The cultivars that grew taller under drought stress conditions had greater dry matter accumulation and higher germination stress indices indicating the reliability of height to predict cultivar performance under such conditions. The cultivars Lee-74 and Wright had higher dry matter accumulation, greater height, and better germination under stress conditions than the other cultivars tested. Conversely, the cultivars Ra 401 and Bay performed poorly in the drought tests at both levels. In the seedling tests, there was no strong relationship between the leaf water potential and the overall performance of the plant suggesting no clear osmoregulatory mechanism. Based on results from germination and seedling tests, the cultivars Lee-74, Wright , and Ra 401 were selected for further studies in greenhouse and field trials.     

Allelic changes in bread wheat cultivars were associated with long-term wheat trait improvements

Genetic impacts under selective breeding of agricultural crops have been frequently investigated with molecular tools, but inadequate attention has been paid to assess genetic changes under long-term genetic improvement of plant traits. Here we analyzed allelic changes with respect to wheat trait improvement in 78 Canadian hard red spring wheat cultivars released from 1845 to 2004 and screened with 370 mapped SSR markers. The improvements in quality, maturity, yield, disease, stem rust, leaf rust, sawfly resistance, and agronomy were considered. A total of 154 (out of 370) loci with significant allelic changes across 21 chromosomes were detected in the 78 wheat cultivars separated into improved versus non-improved groups for eight traits. The number of significant loci for improving a trait ranged from four for quality to 68 for yield and averaged 35. Many more loci with significant allelic reduction for improving a trait were detected than those with significant allelic increase. Selection for early maturity introduced more alleles, but improving the other traits purged more alleles. Significantly lower numbers of unique alleles were found in the cultivars with improved traits. The distributions of unique allele counts also varied greatly across the 21 chromosomes with respect to trait improvement. Significant SSR variation between two cultivar groups was observed for improvement in seven traits, but not in stem rust. The proportional SSR variation residing between two groups ranged from 0.014 to 0.118. The proportional SSR variations within the improved cultivar groups consistently were much lower than those within the non-improved groups. These findings clearly demonstrate the association between allelic changes and wheat trait improvements and are useful for understanding the genetic modification of the wheat genome by long-term wheat breeding.     

Identification and validation of quantitative trait loci associated with seed yield in soybean

In soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill], the genetic analysis of seed yield is important to aid in the breeding of high-yielding cultivars. Seed yield is a complex trait, and the number of quantitative trait loci (QTL) involved in seed yield is high. The aims of this study were to identify QTL associated with seed yield and validate their effects on seed yield using near-isogenic lines. The QTL analysis was conducted using a recombinant inbred line population derived from a cross between Japanese cultivars ‘Toyoharuka’ and ‘Toyomusume’, and eight seed yield-associated QTL were identified. There were significant positive correlations between seed yield and the number of favorable alleles at QTL associated with seed yield in the recombinant inbred lines for three years. The effects of qSY8-1, a QTL promoting greater seed yield, was validated in the Toyoharuka background. In a two-year yield trial, the 100-seed weight and seed yield of Toyoharuka-NIL, the near-isogenic line having the Toyomusume allele at qSY8-1, were significantly greater than those of Toyoharuka (106% and 107%, respectively) without any change for days to flowering and maturity. Our results suggest that qSY8-1 was not associated with maturity genes, and contributed to the 100-seed weight.     

磷对甘蓝型油菜产量及矿质营养吸收与积累的影响

选用湖北省大别山南麓的马肝泥稻田缺磷土壤，在盆栽条件下，研究了6个油菜品种施磷肥的效果。结果显示，施磷条件下，苗期干物重较不施磷处理增加8.33~14.79倍，单株籽粒产量增加16.6~68.0倍；各品种增产率为中双6号>中油821>中油杂2号>中油杂1号>中双4号>中双7号，其中中双7号、中双4号和中油杂1号较耐低磷；施磷能增加油菜不同生长时期植株地上部和成熟期籽粒的P、K含量，以及成熟期籽粒Mo、Mg含量，降低油菜苗期植株地上部N、Mg、S、Fe含量，成熟期植株地上部N、Zn含量以及籽粒S含量，而Ca和大多数微量元素的苗期植株浓度、成熟期籽粒浓度不同品种变化不一；施磷使植株各种养分的积累量均较大增加。     

Breeding for a more energy efficient greenhouse tomato: past and future perspectives

Energy efficiency can be increased either by increasing the production per m² or by reducing the energy input per m², e.g. by reducing temperature set-points in the greenhouse. So far, in Dutch glasshouse tomatoes energy efficiency was almost exclusively raised by yield increases. To study the role of tomato breeding in this production increase, yield and underlying components of 7 cultivars released between 1950 and 2002 were studied. Furthermore, variation in temperature response between cultivars was studied. In three experiments yield and biomass production of in total 11 cultivars were evaluated at two temperature regimes (17/15°C and 21/19°C day/night temperature set-points). Breeding has resulted in a remarkable increase in production. Under current conditions, yield of modern cultivars was on average 40% higher than yield of ‘Moneymaker’, released in 1950. This increase in production resulted from a higher light use efficiency. Although the fraction of assimilates partitioned to the fruits showed small differences between cultivars, this trait was not related to year of release. Furthermore, more recently introduced cultivars produced larger fruits rather than more fruits. All cultivars responded similar to both temperature regimes for all important characteristics, limiting the possibilities of using existing cultivars in a breeding program for improved yield at lower temperatures.     

Influence of genotype on phosphate uptake and utilization efficiencies in spring barley

To investigate the genetic variation of phosphate (P) uptake and P utilization efficiency, 24 high-yielding spring barley cultivars were grown in two pot experiments on a loess loam-sand mixture. In the first experiment, the plants grew until maturity under P stress (50% of the maximum yield), and in the second experiment, the plants grew until the stage of tillering (DC 25) at a low or at a high P supply.

At maturity, the range between cultivars with the highest and the lowest values were 30% for total dm yield (grain and straw), 28% for grain yield, 24% for P uptake efficiency (P in grain and straw), 26% for P concentration in grains and 24% for P utilization efficiency quotient PEQ (g dm grain per mg P in shoots) (mean of all cultivars = 100%). Grain yield was correlated with P uptake per plant, r = 0.71^***, and with PEQ, r = 0.60^**. Between P uptake and PEQ, there was only a weak relationship (r = −0.14). Therefore, a combination of high uptake efficiency and high PEQ in a cultivar may be possible.

At growth stage DC 25, the cultivars showed a significant variability in shoot biomass, P concentration, P removal, P influx, acitvity of acid phophatases (P_ase) and root length. The ranking of the cultivars, however, was very different at the two P levels, but the root-length and the P_ase activity were more influenced by genotype than by the P supply.

As the relationships between grain yield, P removal, PEQ and the characters of the young plants cultivated under P stress were very weak (r < 0.43), selection for P efficiency at the stage of tillering cannot be recommended.     

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.     

Morpho-physiological traits to complement grain yield selection under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions in each of the durum wheat types mediterraneum typicum and syriacum

Summary Some 238 landraces from Algeria and Tunisia representative of the mediterraneum typicum durum wheat type and 265 landraces from Syria and Jordan representing the syriacum type were grown in a semi-arid Mediterranean environment of Northern Syria characterized by moderate drought stress. The germplasm types were compared for mean value, level of variation and relationships with grain yield of various morpho-physiological traits possibly usable for indirect selection of best yielding materials. The syriacum germplasm showed higher yield mainly due to greater earliness of cycle, slightly longer grain filling period, shorter stature, lower early growth vigour and higher drought tolerance expressed by a visual score recorded in another, more stressful environment in the region. It also showed lower variation for all morpho-physiological characters except plant glaucousness, for which it was more variable. The wheat types differed not only for architecture but also for optima of individual morpho-physiological traits required to maximize the yield response in the given environment. Higher yield of syriacum materials was attained at same heading and three to four days delayed maturity with respect to average phenology of three well-adapted control cultivars, and it was favoured by increasing number of kernels per spike, early vigour and drought tolerance. Higher yield of mediterraneum typicum landraces was related to heading and maturity dates approaching those of the control cultivars and to increasing kernel weight, early vigour and drought tolerance. Plant stature hardly affected the yield. Both absent and strong glaucousness could confer a yield advantage in syriacum materials.