Evaluation of ecological stability and plasticity of inbred lines of winter rye

Abstract

The results of an ecological and genetic study of 50 lines of inbred winter rye plants are presented. The study was performed under a wide range of the weather factors, which occurred for years of the investigation (2004–2013). The following eight traits were studied: height of plants, number of grains in an ear, weight of 1000 grains, weight of the grains of an ear, falling number, viscosity of water extract, and content of protein and starch in grain. To each line and trait, factor of ecological variation (CVecol), factor of phenotypic stability (SF) (according to D. Lewis, 1954), and ecological plasticity (bi) (according to S.A. Eberhart and W.A. Russell, 1966) were calculated. The range of ecologic variation (CVecol) of the majority of the traits was approximately similar to the range of interlinear variation (CVgen). The slightly varying traits (SF = 1.1–1.32) had maximum buffer capacity, and high varying traits (SF = 2.02–3.17) had rather low buffer capacity. There was a positive correlation (r = 0.47–0.97) of all traits between CVecol, SF, and bi. It was shown that high ecological response of a trait (bi) does not provide high phenotypic stability of the trait. It was concluded that the lines that possess a low CVecol and a high SF of the traits are more important for selection than the lines having high ecological plasticity (bi > 1). In the years of unfavorable weather conditions, rather high adaptability can be provided by ecologically resistant inbred lines.