Inheritance of Yield Components and Heterosis in Spring Durum Wheat Hybrids (Triticum durum Desf.)

For the analysis of the results of hybridization during the early stages of wheat breeding, it is important to choose a system of traits by which the selection of elite plants will achieve some genetic progress and lead to improved yield potential. As a rule, when analyzing various factorial traits in the first-generation hybrids, quantitative parameters of plant yield components, their inheritance pattern, and heterosis are determined. A new source material of spring durum wheat was created by intraspecific and interspecific crossings. The inheritance pattern of the main components of spike productivity in the first-generation hybrids of durum wheat has been studied. The inheritance overdominance and partial positive dominance of spike length and grain number per spike was characteristic for the majority (64.3%) of intraspecific F-1 hybrids. The best hybrid combination (Melanopus 10-02 x Slavuta) was characterized by overdominance and positive dominance in the inheritance of all the studied traits; high degree of heterosis (DH) (64.7%) by grain weight per spike was noted. Heterosis and inheritance pattern of the "1000 grain weight" trait by overdominance was found in hybrids obtained by crossing Melanopus 10-02 x Slavuta (hp = +5.0; DH +9.9%), Leucurum 06-07 x Saratovskaya zolotistaya (hp = +13.0; DH +7.4%), and Leucurum 06-07 x Kharkivska 29 (hp = +17.0; DH +10.0%). Among the studied parental component, the line Melanopus 10-02 has been selected and submitted to the State Qualifying Examination of the Ukrainian Institute for Plant Variety Examination. It was registered as the novel durum wheat cultivar MCYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER BYELORUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN IP Raiduzhna. The promising perspective of the intraspecific cross combination (Line 08-17 x Saratovskaya zolotistaya) was noted; these hybrids were characterized by heterosis for all the analyzed traits and overdominance of their inheritance, which allowed recommending this cross for further genetic studies. Therefore, defining the parameters of plant productivity, the inheritance pattern, the degree of heterosis in the first-generation hybrids is an urgent task in creating new varieties as well as in the predicting breeding and genetic effect of crossing.