Comparison of random bulk population and single-seed-descent methods for lentil breeding

Summary Three lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.) populations were advanced from the F₂ to the F₄ generation by singleseed-descent (SSD) and bulk-population (BP) breeding methods and used to compare the relative efficiency of the methods for maintaining genetic variation and selection opportunities.SSD maintained more genetic variation (% MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGak0dh9WrFfpC0xh9vqqj-hEeeu0xXdbba9frFj0-OqFf% ea0dXdd9vqaq-JfrVkFHe9pgea0dXdar-Jb9hs0dXdbPYxe9vr0-vr% 0-vqpWqaaeaabaGaaiaacaqabeaadaqaaqaaaOqaaiqbeo8aZzaaja% Waa0baaSqaaiaadEgaaeaacaaIYaaaaaaa!3B04!\[\hat \sigma _g^2 \]) in 15 of 21 comparisons of characters that were made. Genetic variances were significantly higher with SSD for plant height, days to maturity and yield in population 1; height of lowest pod in population 2; and days to blooming, height of lowest pod, plant type, and yield in population 3. SSD-derived populations had 10, 9, and 13% more erect lines in the three populations, respectively, when compared to the same populations advanced by BP. The BP method maintained 14, 2, and 4% more taller types in the three populations, respectively, and 16 and 33% more segregants that carried their pods higher from the ground. This indicated a reduced frequency of short plants with low flowers as a result of natural selection operating within BP against less competitive short types. The SSD method is an efficient cost-saving method of advancing lentil populations and is recommended for lentil breeding.Scientific Paper No. 5478.