Induction of Semi-Dwarf Trait to a Three Pistil Tall Mutant Through Breeding With Increased Grain Numbers in Wheat.

Ahsan Irshad,Luxiang Liu,Akash Zafar,Lin Qiu,Huijun Guo,Manzoor Hussain,Chaojie Wang,Jiayu Gu,Shoaib Ur Rehman,Ali Ammar,Chunyun Zhou,Imtiaz Ali,Rana Imtiaz Ahmed

doi:10.3389/fgene.2022.828866

Abstract

Multi-ovary wheat (three pistil) is a unique germplasm for the seed production of hybrid wheat. The purpose of the present study was to transfer the multi-ovary trait to semi-dwarf plants to increase the production of grains in wheat crops. Therefore, tall, semi-dwarf, and dwarf plants were crossed with plants with the three-pistil trait. A three-pistil tall plant was used as the female parent, while tall (Synthetic hexaploid), semi-dwarf, and dwarf plants were used as male parents. F1 and F2 progenies with parents were planted in 2015-16 using RCBD. The outcome of the crosses showed that multi-ovary tall plants gave significant difference for all five traits (days to maturity, plant height, number of seeds per spike, grain weight per spike, and grain yield per unit area) in both generations. The greatest number of grains per spike and grain yield per unit area were obtained from the cross of three-pistil tall and dwarf parent (P1/P6) in the F1 and F2 generations. The cross also resulted in a significant reduction in height (96 cm). Further heterosis studies conducted with crosses between three-pistil tall and dwarf parent (P1/P6) showed the greatest heterosis and heterobeltiosis for the number of grains per spike (60.0 and 26.19%, respectively) and grain yield per m2 (27.68 and 2.85%, respectively). In the case of grain weight per spike, the heterosis value was also positive and significant (17.7). Meanwhile, for other traits, their values were negative for heterosis and heterobeltiosis. High numbers of grains and grain weight were found to be associated with positive heterobeltiosis and in turn the grain yield per m2, but plant height and maturity had negative affirmation with heterobeltiosis. Heterosis studies also indicated the dominant gene action for the three-pistil trait. Thus, the study clearly signified that grain yield can be increased by using the multi-ovary genotype with the semi-dwarf height. This new germplasm will be helpful for breeders to increase the production of wheat crops in the southern climate of Pakistan.

Highlights

Wheat (Tritium aestivum L.) is consumed as a major staple food in almost all regions of the world and is grown on millions of hectares of land
Similar findings were noticed in F1 and F2 for the cross between TP and dwarf 2. These results show that there was a reduction in plant height in both generations; F1 and F2 (Figure 3)
Some genotypes are of long duration, while some have a short duration

Summary

Introduction

Wheat (Tritium aestivum L.) is consumed as a major staple food in almost all regions of the world and is grown on millions of hectares of land. One important product is Chapatti which is used as a staple food in Asian countries (Shitsukawa et al, 2009; Irshad et al, 2021). It accounts for approximately 30% of global grain production, while it provides 20% of the calories and essential amino acids to the human population (Howel et al, 2014). For the green revolution, it will be necessary to continue to increase production by improving the yield-related traits of wheat to meet the future demands of food security. To improve the yield potential of wheat, it is necessary to increase the grain number per spike and unit area (Frederick and Bauer, 1999). A wide range of genetic variations are required in the morphological structure of wheat to achieve high grain numbers per spike (Yang et al, 2015)

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Conclusion