Abstract
Cultivated and wild species of wheat are valuable breeding resources used for the development of new cultivars with superior root traits suited to drought and non-stressed conditions. The present study aimed to determine genotypes with superior root traits and phenotypic variability among intergeneric hybrids with Triticum and Aegilops species in the early vegetative (Z11) and stem elongation (Z31) growth stages. Results indicated that phenotypic variability in rooting depth was 3.2- and 3.4-fold among the genotypes in Z11 and Z31, and it was as great as 20- and 23.8-fold for root biomass, respectively. Hierarchical clustering among 35 genotypes for root traits in both growth stages identified four major clusters, grouping the six deep-rooted genotypes in cluster 2 and three genotypes with high root biomass in cluster 1. In both growth stages, significant associations were found among the root traits. Also, the relationship was stronger between the root and shoot biomass in Z11 (r2=0.83) than in Z31 (r2=0.44). As an overall assessment, the suggested genotypes with superior root characteristics such as deep roots and/or high root biomass sustained in both growth stages might be used for the development of new cultivars.
Highlights
Wheat is a staple crop of historical economic importance that is widely grown worldwide
Cultivated hulled emmer wheat was created by plant selection of wild emmer and evolved into the free-threshing ears of T. turgidum, T. polonicum, T. turanicum, and T. carthlicum by natural mutation (Peng et al, 2011)
This study proved that significant variations exist among the genotypes in terms of coleoptile length, shoot height, number of tillers, shoot biomass, and SPAD chlorophyll in the early vegetative and stem elongation growth stages (P
Summary
Wheat is a staple crop of historical economic importance that is widely grown worldwide. Cultivated hulled emmer wheat was created by plant selection of wild emmer and evolved into the free-threshing ears of T. turgidum, T. polonicum, T. turanicum, and T. carthlicum by natural mutation (Peng et al, 2011). Another wild diploid wheat used in this study, T. boeoticum, has been described as the wild progenitor of T. monococcum (Özkan et al, 2010). Considering the evaluation of root traits towards the use of genetic resources in breeding programs, the present study aimed to i) determine phenotypic variability for root and shoot features and their relationships, and ii) selection of genotypes with superior root traits for the rain-fed and irrigated conditions in a set of Triticum and Aegilops species together with their hybrids in early vegetative and stem elongation growth stages
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