Estimation of genetic components for plant growth and physiological traits of wheat (Triticum aestivum L) under normal and stress conditions

M Ahmed,Mk Naeem,Mkn Shah,Ms Iqbal,S Noreen

doi:10.3329/sja.v13i1.24183

M Ahmed, Mk Naeem + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3329/sja.v13i1.24183

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Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the genetic variability of plant growth and physiological characters in thirty wheat genotypes under normal and drought stress conditions. Selection of important plant growth and physiological traits are essential component for wheat yield improvement. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted in the glasshouse during 2012-13 to estimate the extent of genetic components viz., genetic variance, coefficient of variability and broad sense heritability for plant growth and physiological traits under normal and drought stress conditions. Higher genetic variance was observed between the genotypes for the cell membrane stability, excised leaf water loss, relative water content, proline, sugar and glycine betain under both conditions. This suggested that these indices can be used as direct selection criteria for wheat improvement. While excised leaf water loss and fresh root weight revealed the least variability for GCV and PCV correspond to high heritability under stress condition. Hence, these traits can be used as indirect selection criteria under stress condition.SAARC J. Agri., 13(1): 90-98 (2015)

Highlights

Wheat, ranking second among cereals, is important staple food crop and it provides 21% of the food calories and 20% of the protein in human nutrition to more than 3.5 billion people in 94 countries (Braun et al, 2010)
21% of the food relies on the wheat, which cultivated on 200 million hectares worldwide (FAO, 2010)
This was conducted in glass-house of PMAS- Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi during 201213.Thirty wheat genotypes were sown in triplicate in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) in polythene bags (12×6 inch size), which were filled by soil mixture having field soil, sand and farm yard manure in 3:1/2:1 proportions and maintained in glasshouse conditions i.e. 20±2°C temperature, under natural daylight

Summary

Introduction

Wheat, ranking second among cereals, is important staple food crop and it provides 21% of the food calories and 20% of the protein in human nutrition to more than 3.5 billion people in 94 countries (Braun et al, 2010). 21% of the food relies on the wheat, which cultivated on 200 million hectares worldwide (FAO, 2010). Pfeiffer et al (2005) reported that drought affects the 50% of wheat area worldwide. Under such moisture stress conditions development of rapid, effective screening method is a major challenge for plant breeders (Khan et al, 2013; Mahmood et al, 2013; Subhani et al, 2012). Germplasm improvement for drought can be accomplished significantly through the use of physiological interventions in breeding (Reynolds and Trethowan, 2007)

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