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ARS Home » Plains Area » Mandan, North Dakota » Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #167967
Title: SELECTION FOR SEED YIELD IN AUTOTETRAPLOID RUSSIAN WILDRYE

Author
item Berdahl, John
item Hendrickson, John

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/10/2004
Publication Date: 10/1/2004
Citation: Berdahl, J.D., Hendrickson, J.R. 2004. Selection for seed yield in autotetraploid Russian wildrye. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. Madison, WI.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Induced polyploidy has resulted in greater plant vigor, particularly seedling vigor, in Russian wildrye. Seed set and seed yield have been lower in autotetraploid than diploid plants, probably due to the absence or inactivity of genetic factor(s) conditioning meiotic bivalent chromosome pairing in autotetraploids. Narrow-sense heritabilities of spike-fertility index and seed yield were estimated in an autotetraploid population to determine the feasibility of using recurrent phenotypic selection for these traits to improve seed yield. Spike fertility index was measured by dividing dry weight of threshed seed from a 10-spike sample by dry weight of the unthreshed spikes. Polycross family means were regressed on maternal parent means for 35 entries, and the linear regression coefficient was multiplied by a coefficient of 2 to provide an estimate of narrow-sense heritability. Spike fertility indices ranged from .42 to .72 for parent and from .37 to .73 for progeny means. Heritability estimates were 75% for spike fertility index and 80% for seed yield. Recurrent selection for seed yield would be effective in improving spike fertility and seed yield of autotetraploid Russian wildrye populations.