Author(s): RS Raikwar, Anil Mishra and KC Shukla

Abstract: The aim of this research was to examine the gene action that controls the expression of various traits in bread wheat by using generation mean analysis. Six generations (P₁, P₂, F₁, F₂, BC₁ and BC₂) of five crosses, cross I (HI 8627 x HI 8498), cross II (DBW 17 x JW 3211), cross III (HD 2993 x HD 4758), cross IV (MP 3269 x HI 1500) and cross V (HW 1900 x UP 2847), were used for this purpose. The results revealed that the estimated mean effects (m) of all the traits in all crosses were highly significant, indicating the quantitative inheritance of the traits. The epistatic interaction was present for all the eight traits in the crosses. Generally, the value of dominance effect (h) was higher than additive effect (d) in all the traits. Digenic interaction suggested that the inheritance was complex and involved non-additive gene action. The selection in early generation could be beneficial. For grain yield and most of the traits, the dominance type gene effects were more significant than additive gene effects. In the five crosses, the different traits showed a large and negative dominance x dominance degree, while the additive x additive gene actions were high and positive. In wheat breeding, the selection for enhancing grain yield and its related traits should be delayed until later generations because additive x dominant gene effects were less significant.

DOI: 10.33545/26174693.2024.v8.i4f.985