Heritability of Sr‐89 and Ca‐45 Accumulation in Barley Seedlings1

Abstract

Heritability of Sr‐89 and Ca‐45 accumulation in seedling plants was studied in two crosses of barley. Seedling plants of parent, F1, F2, F3, and F4 generations were grown in nutrient solution containing Sr‐89 and Ca‐45. Broad sense heritability estimates for Sr‐89 and Ca‐45 accumulation in the F2 generation of the two crosses ranged from 36% to 58%. Estimates of heritability in the F3 generation as obtained from the correlation of F3 with F4, lines were 55% and 50% for Sr‐89 accumulation and 49% and 41% for Ca‐45. These estimates are sufficiently large to indicate that selection for high or low Sr‐89 and Ca‐45 accumulation would be effective on a single plant basis in F2 and on the line basis in F3. Actual gains in FF4 from hypothetical selection in FF3 were substantial and similar to those predicted, particularly when selection was for low Sr‐89 and low Ca‐45 accumulation.Differences among lines in the ratio of Sr‐89/Ca‐45 were not heritable in the F3 generation. Accumulation of Sr‐89 and Ca‐45 was highly correlated in the F3 and F4 generations. Thus, the data indicate a close relationship between Sr‐89 and Ca‐45 accumulation in the populations studied.