Diallelic analysis of quantitative traits in hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

A complete diallel study of crosses between eight wheat varieties was carried out to determine the relative magnitude of components of genetic variation and heritability for important grain yield, quality and drought‐related traits. The data appeared adequate for the additive‐dominance model. The additive effects predominated for most traits, and consequently the narrow‐sense heritability was high to moderately high for flag leaf area, weight and venation, stomatal frequency and size, epidermal cell size, biomass, protein content, number of tillers, spike length, spike density, 1000‐grain weight and grain yield. These results appear promising for selecting better plants in the segregating populations with some degree of improvement for yield, quality and physiological efficiency.

Keywords:

• Wheat varieties
• grain yield
• yield components
• protein content
• stomata
• cell size
• heritability

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a research grant from the Higher Education Commission, Islamabad, Pakistan, which is gratefully acknowledged. Sincere thanks are due to Dr Prem Jauhar, USDA‐ARS, Northern Crop Science Laboratory, Fargo, ND for critically reading the manuscript and making valuable suggestions.