2006 marked the centenary of the commercial propagation of phalaris (Phalaris aquatica L.) as a cultivated pasture plant, firstly in Australia, and soon after in New Zealand, South Africa, and North and South America. Small-scale evaluation of cv. Australian began in the Toowoomba Botanic Gardens, Queensland, in 1884. The first recorded large-scale production of seed was at the Glen Innes Research Farm of the NSW Department of Agriculture in February 1906. By 1908–15, several graziers in Australia and New Zealand sold seed widely within Australia, New Zealand, USA, Argentina, and South Africa. Factors affecting the utilisation of the original cultivar in Australia over the first half-century are reviewed. Thereafter, the need to extend the area of perennial pastures into regions unsuitable for cv. Australian led CSIRO and the US Department of Agriculture to collect germplasm widely in the Mediterranean region. Selection between and within Moroccan populations produced cvv. Sirocco and El Golea in Australia, and cv. Perla koleagrass in the USA. In Argentina, selection within cv. Australian produced the very successful, seed-retaining cv. Pergamino El Gaucho INTA, which was re-selected in Australia to produce cv. Seedmaster. The discovery of a single seed-retaining plant within a certified line of cv. Australian gave cv. Uneta, which had excellent seed retention because the rachillae of most seeds remained intact at maturity. In Australia, selection in populations derived from crosses between cv. Australian and Mediterranean ecotypes gave a succession of winter-active cultivars: Sirosa, Sirolan, Holdfast, Landmaster, Atlas PG, Advanced AT, and Holdfast GT. The latter 5 have Uneta-type seed retention, reduced tryptamine and tyramine alkaloids, and adaptation to different soil and climatic niches. Populations for the hotter, drier inland slopes of NSW are being field-tested. Also, a promising but unstable semi-dwarf line has been found: dwarfism appears to be caused by a transposable element. Breeding and selection programs in Argentina, several states of the USA, New Zealand, Israel, Tunisia, and Greece also produced cultivars with specific adaptations. Active breeding programs are continuing at Ardmore, OK, USA, and Pergamino, Argentina. A major remaining obstacle to the further improvement and utilisation of phalaris is the unknown chemical nature of the toxin(s) causing ‘sudden death’, which temporarily interfere with nitrogen metabolism in the brains of herbivores, especially ruminants.

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RESUMENEl rendimiento de grano por unidad de superficie y algunos de sus componentes de 18 líneas experimentales de triticales graníferos y tres cultivares doble propósito, se evaluaron durante 2009 a 2015 en Santa Rosa (36°37′ S, 64°17′ W), Provincia de La Pampa, Argentina, sobre un Paleoustol petrocálcico en condiciones naturales. La siembra se realizó bajo un diseño en bloques completos al azar con tres repeticiones y parcelas estándar. Se realizó el análisis de varianza (ANOVA) conjunto para los distintos caracteres analizados y se utilizaron las Diferencias Mínimas Significativas (p ≤ 0,05) para separar promedios. Las interrelaciones entre caracteres se analizaron por medio de correlaciones fenotípicas, coeficiente de sendero (path analysis) y componentes principales. La variable dependiente fue el rendimiento de grano por unidad de superficie y los componentes del rendimiento considerados fueron: número de granos m -2 , número de espigas m -2 , número de granos por espiga y peso de 1000 granos La fuente de variación Años explicó más de 70% de la variancia total, mientras que los Genotipos explicaron menos del 10%. La interacción genotipo x año resultó significativa para peso de 1000 granos. Las líneas en conjunto rindieron 9% más que los testigos; las cuatro mejores rindieron más de 3.000 kg ha -1 , superando a los testigos en 25%. El rendimiento por unidad de superficie estuvo correlacionado en forma positiva y significativa con el peso de 1000 granos (r = 0,49****) y el número de espigas m -2 (r = 0,25**).Palabras clave: Triticale, correlaciones fenotípicas, coeficientes de sendero, componentes principales. ABSTRACTGrain yield per unit area and some yield components of eighteen experimental strains and three dual-purpose cultivars of triticale were evaluated from 2009 to 2015 in Santa Rosa (36°37′ S, 64°17′ W), Province of La Pampa, Argentina, on a petrocalcic Paleoustol soil under natural conditions. The trial was conducted using a randomized complete block design with three replications and standard plots. ANOVA was used to analyze the variables studied, while comparisons between means were made using least significant differences (p ≤ 0.05). Interrelationships between traits were analyzed using phenotypic correlations, path coefficients analysis and principal components. Grain yield per 94-101.

Triticum-Thinopyrum amphiploids arose from the need to obtain forage grasses highly resistant to pest, drought, soil salinity and frost and they can be used as efficient bridges to transfer desired genes from wheatgrass species to wheat. One of them is trigopiro SH16 INTA, it was introduced in Argentina in 1947 but its genomic composition was unknown. The aim of this work was to determine the chromosome number and genomic and chromosome composition of trigopiro SH16 INTA in order to use it in breeding programs. The simultaneous use of the in situ hybridization technique with different probes (genomic DNA of Th. ponticum (Podp.) Barkworth et D.R. Dewey, pSc119.2 and pAs1) allowed us to conclude that the chromosome number of trigopiro SH16 is 2n = 42 and the genome composition would be: 14 chromosomes of the B genome, the 2D and 4D chromosome pairs of wheat, 14 chromosomes of the J genome of Thinopyrum and the remaining chromosomes probably belong to the A genome of wheat.

The aim of this work was to cytogenetically characterize triticale cultivars through fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of their rye chromosomes. In the present work, we studied six cultivars of triticale ('Cayú-UNRC', 'Cumé-UNRC', 'Genú-UNRC', 'Ñinca-UNRC', 'Quiñé-UNRC', and 'Tizné-UNRC'), released by the Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto (UNRC), Córdoba, Argentina. The cultivars were obtained from the International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat (CIMMYT) and improved for fresh forage, haymaking, and feed grain at UNRC. The distribution and organization of highly repetitive DNA sequences of Secale cereale (pSc74, pSc200, pSc250, and pSc119.2) using FISH analyses revealed a specific localization of the signals for several rye chromosomes, which allowed us to distinguish the cultivars. Cluster analysis showed a great cytogenetic similarity among the rye cultivars used to originate these hybrids. The knowledge of the variability among triticale cultivars is necessary to propose future crosses in breeding programs. This study will also be valuable to identify commercial seeds and to analyze the possible association between agronomic characters and the presence of certain rye chromosomes or specific regions in these chromosomes.