Height inheritance in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) hybrids with D₂ and D₃ hybrid dwarfing genes

Background. Durum wheat (BBA^uA^u, 2n=28) carries the D₂ and D₃ hybrid dwarfing genes. A study of the nature of D genes and a research of their influence on the adaptive and selectively valuable traits of hybrid plants with hybrid dwarfing genes is of theoretical and practical interest. It was previously established that the dominant alleles of the D₂ and D₃ genes significantly reduce the height of durum wheat hybrid plants and positively affect the kernel size and vitreousness. The purpose of the present work was to study the inheritance of height in hybrids obtained by crossing a semi-dwarf durum winter wheat cultivar with lines carrying hybrid dwarfing genes. Material and methods. The material of the study was four lines of durum wheat: L-961, L-962, L-963 and L-964 carrying hybrid dwarfing genes D₂ and D₃, a cultivar of semi-dwarf winter durum wheat ‘Krupinka’ (k-64725) with the rht1 gene, and hybrids of these lines with this cultivar. ‘Krupinka’ was used as the female parent in hybridization by controlled pollination. The degree of dominance was determined according to Beil and Atkins. Statistics were performed using the Pearson’s -x² test. Results and conclusions. The analysis of plant lines of durum wheat with the D₂ and D₃ hybrid dwarfing genes showed that the average height of the ‘Krupinka’ × L-962 and ‘Krupinka’ × L-963 hybrids was 30 cm lower compared to the tall parent, the degree of dominance was 0.9 and 1.9 respectively. In hybrids with lines L-961 and L-964, there was no dominance of short stature. The height variability in F₂ hybrids was continuous and prevented combining them into any phenotypic classes. The F₃ families of ‘Krupinka’ × L-962 and ‘Krupinka’ × L 963 hybrids segregated by height into three phenotypic classes. The actual ratio of phenotypic classes did not contradict the theoretical one of 10:3:3. The obtained numerical ratios of F₃ families are generally similar to those found in the literature. A distinctive feature is the absence of recessive alleles in D genes. It is assumed that the latter are regulators of phytohormone gene depression and do not have recessive alleles. It will be more correct to designate the observed phenotypic classes as D₂D₂ ⁱ and D₃D₃ ⁱ, where D₂ⁱ  and  D₃ⁱ denote homologues of chromosomes with a different number of multigenes. Conclusion. The study of height inheritance in the obtained hybrids indicated the presence of dominant D₂ and D₃ genes in the L-962 and L-963 lines and of the semi-dominant D₃ gene in the L-961 line. A distinctive feature of height inheritance in durum wheat lines with the D₂ and D₃ hybrid dwarfing genes is the absence of recessive alleles in the D genes, i.e. no dominance of short stature.

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