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Yield stability of hybrids versus lines in wheat, barley, and triticale

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Abstract

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We present experimental data for wheat, barley, and triticale suggesting that hybrids manifest on average higher yield stability than inbred lines.

Abstract

Yield stability is assumed to be higher for hybrids than for inbred lines, but experimental data proving this hypothesis is scarce for autogamous cereals. We used multi-location grain yield trials and compared the yield stability of hybrids versus lines for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), and triticale (×Triticosecale Wittmack). Our study comprised three phenotypic data sets of 1,749 wheat, 96 barley, and 130 triticale genotypes, which were evaluated for grain yield in up to five contrasting locations. Yield stability of the group of hybrids was compared with that of the group of inbred lines estimating the stability variance. For all three crops we observed a significantly (P < 0.05) higher yield stability of hybrids compared to lines. The enhanced yield stability of hybrids as compared to lines represents a major step forward, facilitating coping with the increasing abiotic stress expected from the predicted climate change.

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Acknowledgments

Jonathan Mühleisen was supported by BMELV/BLE within the “Züchtung von Triticalesorten für extreme Umwelten—eine Frage des Sortentyps?” project (Grant ID 2814502410) and by BMBF within the HYWHEAT project (Grant ID: FKZ0315945D). We gratefully thank Gunther Stiewe (Syngenta Seeds Ltd) for making data of the barley experiment available.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Plant Breeding Institute, University of Hohenheim, 70593, Stuttgart, Germany

    Jonathan Mühleisen, Hans Peter Maurer & Carl Friedrich Horst Longin

  2. Bioinformatics Unit, Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, 70593, Stuttgart, Germany

    Hans-Peter Piepho

  3. Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Corrensstrasse 3, 06466, Gatersleben, Germany

    Jochen Christoph Reif

Authors
  1. Jonathan Mühleisen
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  2. Hans-Peter Piepho
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  3. Hans Peter Maurer
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  4. Carl Friedrich Horst Longin
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  5. Jochen Christoph Reif
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jochen Christoph Reif.

Additional information

Communicated by I. Mackay.

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Mühleisen, J., Piepho, HP., Maurer, H.P. et al. Yield stability of hybrids versus lines in wheat, barley, and triticale. Theor Appl Genet 127, 309–316 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-013-2219-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-013-2219-1

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