Agronomic Variability in Selected Triticum turgidum x T. tauschii Synthetic Hexaploid Wheats

Two trials were conducted at the Mexican National Institute of Agricultural Research Experiment Station at Yaqui Valley, Sonora, Mexico to investigate the nature and extent of agronomic variation in 50 synthetic hexaploid (SH) wheats (2n = 6x = 42, AABBDD) derived from Triticum turgidum (2n = 4x = 28. AABB) × T. tauschii (In = 2x = 14, DD) crosses for subsequent use in wheat improvement. Plant height, spike length, days to flowering, physiological maturity, grain yield, above-ground biomass at maturity, harvest index, yield components and test weight were determined.
Significant agronomic variation was observed among the germplasm evaluated. Outstanding SH genotypes were identified with higher grain yield, above-ground biomass at maturity, 1000-grain weight, and spikes m⁻² than the bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) check cultivar Seri 82. Genotypic correlations of grain yield with other character traits show that grain m² was the most important determinant of gram yield (r = 0.993). Data on agronomic traits subjected to complete linkage cluster analysis resulted in classifying the genotypes into two distinct phenotypic groups excluding Seri 82. Groups generally corresponded to durum progenitors of the SH with significant group differences for all characters. This demonstrates use of practical numerical analysis procedures to describe agronomic variation in representative SH genotypes. Clustering by quantitativy traits may be valuable for identification of genotypes with divergent sources for breeding and agronomic purposes.