Landraces are a valuable source of genetic variability for breeders to develop high-yielding lentil varieties. Apart from productivity, simultaneous breeding for lentil seed nutritional quality is of paramount importance for wider lentil consumption. This work examined the indirect effect of single plant selection for high yield on important seed quality traits within three Greek lentil landraces ("Elassona" (EL), "Lefkada" (L), and "Evros" (EV)). The breeding methodology applied was proved to help either maintain or improve such characteristics in the high-yielding second-cycle lines (SLs) selected. Compared to the parental landrace "Elassona", the high-yielding lines showed increased crude fiber by 30-110%; the line 2-SL-EL-6 had higher starch content by 3.9% and reduced cooking time by 6.67 min, while the 2-SL-EL-10 line had higher crude fiber by 73%. In the case of "Lefkada", the high-yielding lines selected maintained the protein content present in the parental landrace, apart from the 2-SL-L-1 where a decrease by 5% was recorded; however, most of them showed increased crude fiber (5.59-7.52%) in comparison with the parental landrace (4.65%). Finally, in relation to the "Evros" parental landrace, the 2-SL-EV-3 and 2-SL-EV-4 showed higher crude fiber and reduced cooking time. This study provides evidence that proper management of genetic variability could improve productivity without compromising or sometimes improving some seed quality traits.
SUMMARYCultivated lentil (Lens culinaris L.) landraces offer a challenge to exploiting their genetic variability and deriving new pure-line varieties. For insect-transmitted viruses, low densities favour increased virus spread. The objective of the present work was to evaluate a selection procedure applied within a landrace under ultra-low plant density and low-input conditions toward the isolation of high-performing genotypes that escape virus infection. Field trials were conducted through four growing seasons (2006–2011) in the Democritus University of Thrace research farm in Orestiada, Greece. Selection of individual plants for high grain yield was applied for three generations, while virus presence was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the seeds used or the plants selected in each selection cycle. Early high plant-to-plant phenotypic variability, reflected by high coefficient of variation (CV) values, was partly attributed to virus infection. However, sister lines were consistently higher yielding and of lower CV than the mother population (MP). Second generation lines yielded up to 136 and 23% more than the source landrace at the ultra-low density and dense stand, respectively. Pea seed-borne mosaic virus was detected in the seeds of the MP, whereas bean yellow mosaic virus and bean leafroll virus were mainly involved in the subsequent selection rounds. In general, the highest-yielding plants were free of the viruses detected during experimentation. It was concluded that selection at ultra-low density of the highest-yielding plants from the sister lines with the lowest CV constitute an effective way to improve the health status of the seeds produced and result in high yielding and potentially virus-tolerant pure-line varieties.
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