Characterising variation in wheat traits under hostile soil conditions in India

Abstract

Intensive crop breeding has increased wheat yields and production in India. Wheat improvement in India typically involves selecting yield and component traits under non-hostile soil conditions at regional scales. The aim of this study is to quantify G*E interactions on yield and component traits to further explore site-specific trait selection for hostile soils. Field experiments were conducted at six sites (pH range 4.5–9.5) in 2013–14 and 2014–15, in three agro-climatic regions of India. At each site, yield and component traits were measured on 36 genotypes, representing elite varieties from a wide genetic background developed for different regions. Mean grain yields ranged from 1.0 to 5.5 t ha-1 at hostile and non-hostile sites, respectively. Site (E) had the largest effect on yield and component traits, however, interactions between genotype and site (G*E) affected most traits to a greater extent than genotype alone. Within each agro-climatic region, yield and component traits correlated positively between hostile and non-hostile sites. However, some genotypes performed better under hostile soils, with site-specific relationships between yield and component traits, which supports the value of ongoing site-specific selection activities.

Novel sources of variation in grain Zinc (Zn) concentration in bread wheat germplasm derived from Watkins landraces

“…Velu et al [7] reported co-localisation of major QTLs for grain Zn and Fe concentration on 2B chromosomes which may help to simultaneous improvement of both the micronutrients. Grain yield of 245 wheat genotypes showd positive correlation wth TGW which are in agreement with Khokhar et al [32]. Grain protein content of 245 wheat genotypes varied from 12.3 to 18.6% which is in agreement with Dotlacil et al [33] who reported grain protein content from 13 to 18% in 67 wheat lines derived from landraces when evaluated under field conditions in Czech Republic.…”

Variation in grain Zn concentration, and the grain ionome, in field-grown Indian wheat

“…In addition to Kharchia 65 and BH 1146, several genotypes achieved more than 31 mg kg -1 of grain Zn concentration at different locations, which is equivalent to 50% of the HarvestPlus target of 12 mg kg -1 above a notional baseline grain Zn concentration of 25 mg kg -1 . Given that these lines already have implicitly good grain yield and other quality attributes for India, such lines could also be useful for crossing with high-Zn lines derived from the HarvestPlus, to support site-specific approaches as adopted previously for yield and yield component traits [ 26 ].…”

“…All genotypes and experimental conditions are described in Khokhar et al . [ 26 ], including data for yield and yield components. In brief, the panel was grown at six field sites in major wheat growing areas of India, during rabi (winter) seasons 2013–14 and 2014–15.…”

“…The wheat genotypes used in the present study have been selected to represent a wide diversity of crop types which span all of the agro-climatic wheat growing zones of India for good yield, yield components and quality traits. Most of these genotypes are used as reference lines within advanced variety trials for screening new wheat lines, including under saline/acid soils [ 26 , 27 ].…”

Mapping of novel salt tolerance QTL in an Excalibur × Kukri doubled haploid wheat population

“…The allele was also present in the heterogeneous Excalibur and Krichauff cultivars; plants of either of these cultivars could have the Excalibur-198 or the Kukri allele. Of these six accessions, four (Krichauff, Excalibur, Halberd and BH1146) have been reported as having salinity tolerance (Genc et al 2007 ; Khokhar et al 2017 ; Takahashi et al 2015 ; Zhu et al 2016 ). Future work should focus on identification of haplotypes and their link to salinity tolerance in this QTL locus.…”