Stability of Preharvest Sprouting Responses in Great Plains Hard Winter Wheats as Inferred from a Surrogate Assay

Abstract

Preharvest sprouting, or precocious germination before grain is harvested, has negative consequences on wheat (Triticum spp.) production and utilization industries. Both genetic and environmental factors predispose wheat genotypes to preharvest sprouting. Using a surrogate assay involving misting of intact spikes, 13 Great Plains adapted winter wheat genotypes were evaluated in terms of environmental stability of preharvest sprouting responses using regression analysis. All entries demonstrated slopes with significant differences from zero, indicating that all responded to changing environments. Entries, however, differed markedly in their responses, with several lines demonstrating slopes with significant negative or positive deviations from 1.0. The hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) ‘Camelot’ and the hard white wheat ‘Nuplains’ were found to be most stable (e.g., least responsive) to changing environments. Regression models from stability analyses of these two cultivars were used to identify newly developed genetic materials with potential preharvest sprouting tolerance. Several potential tolerant breeding lines and cultivars were identified and added to the USDA‐ARS National Small Grains Collection, expanding the genetic diversity of useful parental materials capable of contributing to an increase in the frequency of tolerance genes across Great Plains breeding programs.