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General and specific combining ability analysis in lines, testers, and hybrids (F1/F2) of Triticum aestivum L.
Abstract
Most of the wheat breeding programs aim to develop new disease-resistant and widely adopted high-yielding genotypes to enhance food security. The current research work was conducted using the line-by-tester method to investigate genetic divergence, combining ability and inheritance pattern for important traits. Eight wheat lines (PR-137, PR-138, PR-139, Inqilab-91, Auqab-2000, SKD-1, Tajaban, and Benazir-13) and five testers (T-11, Borluog-100, Pirsabaq-15, Zarghoon-21 and Taskeen-22), and their resultant 40 F1 and F2 generations were grown in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Highly significant (p≤0.01) differences were observed among genotypes for all the traits. For the earliness trait, the best general combiner in parental genotypes was PR-137 and T-11. Moreover, the best specific F1 combinations were PR-13×Zarghoon-21and SKD-1×Borlaug-100, whereas Inqilab-91×T-11 was the best specific combiner in the F2 generation. Wheat genotype PR-137 was the best general combiner for spike length, whereas PR-139×T-11 and Tajaban×Pirsabak-15 cross combinations were good specific combiners in F1 and F2 populations, respectively. For 1000-grain weight, Tajaban was the best general combiner, while cross Tajaban×Taskeen-22 had the best SCA in the F1 cross. However, cross combinations PR-137×Borlaug-100 had the best SCA in the F2 cross. For grain yield, parental genotype, i.e. PR-137, had the best GCA, while F1 cross combinations, i.e. Inqilab-91×Borlaug-100, along with F2 cross Tajaban×Borlaug-100, were reported with promising SCA. However, for spikelets spike-1 wheat cultivars, i.e., PR-139 was the best general combiner, while Tajaban×Borlaug-100 and SKD-1×Pirsabak-15 were promising specific combiners in F1 and F2 generation, respectively. Likewise, for biological yield, PR-137 was a promising general combiner. Moreover, cross combinations Benazir-13×Zarghoon-21 among F1 hybrids and Auqab-2000×T-11 in F2 populations were the best specific combiners for biomass yield. The ratios of GCA to SCA variances and degree of dominance showed that the inheritance of all traits except days to heading was controlled by non-additive gene action. Therefore, selection for these traits could be done in later generations for better results.
