Genetical studies on the difference of anther length among common wheat cultivars

Summary Anther and pistil lengths of 61 cultivars and experimental strains of common wheat were measured just before flowering. Anther length varied from 3.0 to 5.1 mm, and pistil length varied from 3.8 to 5.2 mm. A specific correlation was observed between anther length and flowering date among the parental strains, as well as in the F₁ generations of 13 cross combinations; Anther length on flowering date fitted well to a curvelinear regression of the second order in parental and F₁ generations. The reduction of anther length in both early and late flowering cultivars was attributed to the worse environmental conditions for their floral development, compared to the intermediate types. Such relationship between anther length and flowering date was not found in the F₂ generation. This indicates that most of the genes controlling the two characters are different. Heritability of anther length estimated from the regression coefficient of the F₁s on the midparents was greater than 0.65.Contribution from the Laboratory of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Japan, No. 430. The work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid (no. 439016) from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan.