Inheritance of Plant Height in Einkorn Wheat by Results of Segregation Analysis

Abstract

The genetic control of plant height – important trait associated with yield – is practically not studied in diploid wheats. In this paper, using reciprocal crosses between two Triticum monococcum accessions – var. monococcum (UA0300311) and var. nigricultum (UA0300282) in autumn and spring sowing, inheritance of the plant height is studied. The sowing period significantly affects the expression of einkorn plant height. Data from the generations P1, P2, F1, F2 were used for segregation analysis. For a combination of UA0300311 × UA0300282, the optimal models for plant height inheritance are: at autumn sowing – one main gene with a negative complete dominant effect, its additive effect is –8.05; at spring sowing – one main gene with an additive-dominant effect, its additive effect is –24.51. For the reciprocal combination UA0300282 × UA0300311, at autumn sowing, the optimal model of plant height was one main gene with an equal additive-dominant effect, it additive effect is 10.94; at spring sowing – one main gene with a negative complete dominant effect, its additive effect is –18.37. The heritability was in all cases from 96.52% to 99.70%. The high dispersion of the trait in the second hybrid generation suggests that the studied parental forms differ not only in the main gene, as follows from the results of segregation analysis, but also in the system of modifier genes with a weak effect.