Responses to divergent selection for adventitious root growth in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.)

Summary Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) persistence is improved by the growth of adventitious roots from the crown. The effect of one cycle of divergent phenotypic selection for adventitious roots in red clover was evaluated and root and shoot traits including degree of flowering habit correlated. Three classes of single-cross progenies were produced by crossing plants within and between the high and low root selections. Parents and progeny were grown as spaced plants. Adventitious root score and volume were significantly correlated (p<0.05); however they generally had low or nonsignificant correlations with other variables. A significant correlation (r=-0.36, p<0.01) was found between adventitious root score and flowering score (growth type) in 1988 but not in 1989. Significant variation was found among the three classes of single-cross progeny for adventitious root score and crown diameter. The effect of progeny class on score of adventitious roots was not linear, suggesting dominance effects for the absence of adventitious roots may have been present. A narrow-sense heritability estimate of 0.30 was found by midparent offspring regression of the adventitious root score. This low heritability value implies that successful selection would require progeny testing.