Heterosis in Flue‐Cured Tobacco and Its Utility in Predicting Transgressive Segregation within Derived Populations of Inbred Lines

Abstract

Heterosis might be used in a strategic way to increase yields of flue‐cured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.), but previous reports have suggested levels of heterosis to be low for F1 hybrids of this market class. Based on analysis of a 14‐parent diallel, we found average levels of F1 midparent heterosis to be 10.3%, a level that is substantially higher than previous estimates from the 1960s. Thirteen of ninety‐one tested hybrids significantly outyielded the highest yielding parental lines. Heterosis might also be an indicator of superior allelic complementation by parental lines that, in principle, could be fixed in derived inbred lines. We compared F3:4 families derived from three high heterotic crosses and three low heterotic crosses and observed positive correlations between F1 heterosis and desirable transgressive segregation. Hence, the data support the use of F1 heterosis as a predictor of breeding crosses with increased potential for desired outcomes. Several derived F3:4 families exhibited yields that were comparable with, or significantly better than, corresponding heterotic F1 hybrids, indicating that heterotic effects could be fixed within inbred lines. Results suggest a reconsideration of heterosis for increasing yields of flue‐cured tobacco.

Hybridological analysis of inheritance of length and width of leaves in hybrid combinations Burley tobacco

“…Although leaf size is the most important economic indicator in tobacco, studies on heterosis manifestations are relatively few (Aleksoska, 2008;Aleksoskı, 2014;Dexter-Boone & Lewis, 2019), and transgressive ones are almost absent (Stankev, 1985(Stankev, , 1988(Stankev, , 2004Stankev & Trancheva, 1987).…”

Heterosis and inheritance studies on morphological and chemical characters of tobacco

“…Hybrid breeding is widely used, especially in foreign pollinated plants. Although tobacco is a self‐pollinating plant, hybrid breeding is facilitated by its ability to interbreed and interspecies, simple flower structure, easy emasculation, and hybridization processes, and producing a large number of seeds (1,000–4,000 units hybrid −1 ) (Dexter‐Boone & Lewis, 2019; Kinay et al., 2019; Kinay, Yilmaz, et al., 2020).…”