Gene action, combining ability and heterotic performance of Ethiopian Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) lines under moisture stress areas in Ethiopia

Abstract

For sorghum hybrid development, assessment of parental lines is a prerequisite. However, information on heterotic performance and combing ability of Ethiopian elite sorghum lines is inadequate. ANOVA revealed mean squares had signifying substantial amount of variability amongst genotypes for most traits. Males 72, 81 and 99 were the best performing parents for yield and related traits. Hybrids, 106 x 94, 106 x 90, 106 x 102, 107 x 99 and 107 x 105 were found maximum heterotic hybrids for yield as compare to check. The estimates of variance of combining ability revealed that σ 2 gca was found inferior to σ 2 sca for all traits except plant height and number of heads. The σ 2 gca/σ 2 sca ratio revealed preponderance of supremacy gene action for most traits. The degree of dominance was found greater than unity for entire traits except plant height. The estimations of parental GCA effects showed that female 106 and males 79, 96, 94 and 81 were good general combiners for yield and related traits. Based on perse performance, heterotic response, combining ability and nature of gene action for yield and related traits, female parent 106 and male parents 94, 102 and 90 were found most performed. Those parental lines were grouped into dualistic heterotic groups based on their SCA and GCA results.

gene action and combining ability estimation in elite sorghum [sorghum bicolor (l) Moench] inbred lines under Dry Lowland Areas of Ethiopia

“…The highly signi cant variation found due to hybrids vs. check for days to 50% owering, plant height, days to maturity, stay green, panicle length and panicle width traits. Similarly, in earlier studies Xingming et al, (2004); Glover et al, (2005) and Kidanemariam Wagaw et al, (2020) recorded signi cant mean squares of GCA and SCA effects for yield and yield components in sorghum. The variance due to environment x different source of variations like parents, lines, testers, hybrids and hybrid vs. parent were found to be signi cant for the concerned traits of their respective interaction which indicates considerable amount of interaction between the different sources of variations and the environments.…”

Genetic Variability and Association of Traits among Sorghum Genotypes [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] Under Drought Stress Area

“…It is often cross pollinated, diploid crop species (2n = 2x = 20) which belongs to the Poaceae family with a genome size of 730 Mb [2]. While it is primarily grown as feed grain in the developed world, sorghum is a staple crop for more than 500 million people in 30 sub-Saharan African and Asian countries and is essential to the food security of over 300 million people in Africa [3]. Ethiopia is the second largest sorghum producing country in Eastern Africa next to Sudan.…”

Genotypic Variation in Cultivated and Wild Sorghum Genotypes in Response to Striga hermonthica Infestation

“…Sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a diploid (2 n = 2 x = 20) cereal grass of the Gramineae family native to Africa (Doggett, 1988 ). It is the fifth most important cereal globally (Kiprotich et al, 2015 ) and a major staple food for more than 300 million inhabitants of Africa (Kidanemaryam et al, 2018 ). In Kenya, sorghum is ranked second after maize ( Zea mays L.) in tonnage and production area, which is approximately 117,000 ha (FAOSTAT, 2016 ).…”