COMBINING ABILITY AS A CRITERION FOR WHEAT PARENTS SELECTION

Abstract

The breeding program success is related to the combining ability between parents. The aim of this work was to evaluate the combining ability in a wheat full diallel on F2 generation, as a selection criterion of promising parents in the formation of segregating population. Five wheat genotypes were used (Tbio Mestre, Mirante, Quartzo, Pampeano and Fundacep Horizonte) which were subjected to artificial crossings following full diallelic model, resulting in 20 hybrids combinations. In the 2015 crop season, the 20 F2 populations and the five parents were conducted in Federer augmented blocks in four repetitions. The Fundacep Horizonte parent presents high combining ability for plant grain mass. Quartzo and Mirante maximize the spikelet number per head and the head length, Tbio Mestre has lower head insertion height, plants stature and spacing between head spikelets. Reciprocal effects were detected, indicating maternal inheritance on the evaluated traits.