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Selection for water-soluble carbohydrate accumulation and investigation of genetic × environment interactions in an elite wheat breeding population

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Water-soluble carbohydrate accumulation can be selected in wheat breeding programs with consideration of genetic × environmental interactions and relationships with other important characteristics such as relative maturity and nitrogen concentration, although the correlation between WSC traits and grain yield is low and inconsistent.

Abstract

The potential to increase the genetic capacity for water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) accumulation is an opportunity to improve the drought tolerance capability of rainfed wheat varieties, particularly in environments where terminal drought is a significant constraint to wheat production. A population of elite breeding germplasm was characterized to investigate the potential for selection of improved WSC concentration and total amount in water deficit and well-watered environments. Accumulation of WSC involves complex interactions with other traits and the environment. For both WSC concentration (WSCC) and total WSC per area (WSCA), strong genotype × environment interactions were reflected in the clear grouping of experiments into well-watered and water deficit environment clusters. Genetic correlations between experiments were high within clusters. Heritability for WSCC was larger than for WSCA, and significant associations were observed in both well-watered and water deficit experiment clusters between the WSC traits and nitrogen concentration, tillering, grains per m2, and grain size. However, correlations between grain yield and WSCC or WSCA were weak and variable, suggesting that selection for these traits is not a better strategy for improving yield under drought than direct selection for yield.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) of Australia funding for this project (ICF00007) and a Grains Industry Research Scholarship for Ben Ovenden. The American Australian Association is gratefully acknowledged for the ConocoPhillips Education Fellowship awarded to Ben Ovenden. The authors thank Kerry Schirmer and Aaron Hutchison for their expert technical contributions and data collection. The authors also thank the reviewers for their improvements to the manuscript. The breeding lines used in this study were kindly provided by Australian Grains Technologies, InterGrain, HRZ Wheats (now Dow Seeds), Sydney University, LongReach Plant Breeders and CIMMYT.

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  1. Len J. Wade

    Present address: School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Yanco Agricultural Institute, Private Mail Bag, Yanco, NSW, 2703, Australia

    Ben Ovenden

  2. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, Private Mail Bag, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650, Australia

    Andrew Milgate

  3. National Institute for Applied Statistics Research Australia, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Chris Lisle

  4. Charles Sturt University, Graham Centre, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678, Australia

    Len J. Wade

  5. CSIRO Agriculture and Food, PO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Greg J. Rebetzke

  6. USDA-ARS Plant Science Research Unit and Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University, Box 7620, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7620, USA

    James B. Holland

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  1. Ben Ovenden
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Correspondence to Ben Ovenden.

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Communicated by Dr. Susanne Dreisigacker.

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Ovenden, B., Milgate, A., Lisle, C. et al. Selection for water-soluble carbohydrate accumulation and investigation of genetic × environment interactions in an elite wheat breeding population. Theor Appl Genet 130, 2445–2461 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-017-2969-2

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