GENETIC ADVANCE IN 14 CYCLES OF RECURRENT SELECTION IN THE PANDOLY.PABG MALE STERILE WHEAT POPULATION

Abstract

The Oly gene is a dominant source of male sterility that has allowed the establishment of diverse populations to perform recurrent selection on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Such is the case of the broad genetic background male sterile population called PANDOLY.PABG, which has allowed the development of lines and the generation of varieties. Eighty F₅ lines randomly taken from cycles C0, C2, C4, C6, C8, C10, C12, C14 and 10 control varieties were evaluated to estimate genetic advancement after 14 cycles of recurrent selection in the population mentioned above and to assess the efficiency of the Oly gene to form superior lines. A 9 × 10 alpha-lattice design was used with two replications and two planting dates during the Autumn-Winter 2017/2018 cycle in Roque, Guanajuato, and Montecillo, State of Mexico. The variables evaluated were days to flowering (DF), plant height (PH), days to maturity (DM), grain yield (GY), grain filling rate (GFR), harvest index (HI), biomass (BIO), weight of 1000 seeds (WTS), spikes per m₂ (EPM2), grains per m2 (GPM2) and grains per spike (GPE). The highest increase in GY was 1445 kg ha^-1 between cycles C0 and C2. The average genetic progress in the 14 cycles was 3.58 % (140.6 kg ha^-1/cycle). Among the morpho-physiological changes observed, particularly in advanced selection cycles, were an increase (P ≤ 0.05) in GFR, HI, BIO, WTS, EPM2, GPM2, and GPE, and a decrease (P ≤ 0.05) of DF, DM and PH. The control varieties and the lines derived from C14 presented higher GY (P ≤ 0.05) and were statistically equal to each other. The Oly gene is an excellent facilitator of population genetic improvement in wheat.