from Manitou spring wheat to hardy winter wheat. Plants were grown hydroponically and artificially acclimated. Replicated freeze tests were conducted on all ...
1987 CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PLANT SCIENCE 67: 276. ABSTRACTS OF TECHNICAL PAPERS Presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Agronomy Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 7-8 July 1986.
Genetic control of cold hardiness in winter wheat. A.L. Brule-Babel and D.B. Fowler, Crop Science Department and Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 0W0. Short title: Genetics of cold hardiness in winter wheat. Insufficient cold hardiness has been a primary factor limiting the production of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in Saskatchewan. Plant breeding efforts have made only marginal improvements in cultivar cold hardiness over the original Turkey wheat introductions from Crimea. A possible reason for the lack of progress in this area is the poor understanding of the inheritance of cold hardiness in wheat. The inheritance of cold hardiness in wheat was studied in 20 crosses among five parents ranging in cold hardiness from Manitou spring wheat to hardy winter wheat. Plants were grown hydroponically and artificially acclimated. Replicated freeze tests were conducted on all parental cultivars, their F1 and F2 progeny and F2 derived F3 lines. Significant differences between reciprocals were not detected in either the F1 or F2 generations. Analysis of F1 and F2 populations indicated that genetic control of cold hardiness in spring x winter crosses was partially dominant. The F2 derived F3 lines confirmed this conclusion since all distributions were skewed to the hardier end of the population ranges. In contrast, the F1 and F2 populations of winter X winter crosses did not differ significantly in hardiness from their parental midpoints. Thus, no dominance was exhibited in these crosses and genetic control was most likely additive. Distributions of F2 derived F3 lines agreed with the premise that genetic control of cold hardiness was additive in winter X winter crosses. Consequently, the choice of parents would determine whether cold hardiness acted in a dominant or additive fashion. Since cytoplasmic effects were not implicated, crosses in either direction could be used. Key words: Wheat (winter), cold hardiness, genetics
