Analysis of near-isogenic lines of durum wheat (Triticum turgidumL. van durum)

The effects of the genes for long glume (P), hairy glume, non-glaucousness, black glume and purple culm (Pc) on grain and biomass yield in near-isogenic (10 backcrosses) lines of durum wheat cv. LD222 were studied in a field experiment. Long glumes were associated with an increase in rachis length and a decrease in tillering, number of spikes per plant, spikelets per spike, days to heading, over all harvest index and yield. Glaucousness increased grain yield while purple culms reduced grain yield and harvest index. Glume pubescence did not show any significant effect on grain yield and harvest index despite a reduction in the number of tillers per plant. One source of black glumes did not have any significant effect on yield related characteristics while another source had a negative effect on them, indicating that the method employed herein determines the effect of short chromosomal regions rather than those of single genes. Plant height, culm length, 100 kernel weight, and above-ground plant weight were not affected significantly by any of the genes studied.