Combining ability and gene action controlling rust resistance in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Groundnut rust caused by Puccinia arachidis Speg. is a major cause of yield and quality losses in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in the warm-humid tropics including Tanzania. Breeding and deployment of rust resistant cultivars with farmer-preferred attributes will bolster groundnut production and productivity. The objective of this study was to determine the combining ability effects and gene action controlling rust resistance in groundnut genotypes for breeding. Twelve selected and complementary parental lines were crossed in a diallel design, to develop F1 progenies, which were advanced to the F2 for individual plant selection. Thirty-three successful partial crosses and the 12 parents were field evaluated using a 5 × 9 alpha lattice designs with two replications over two seasons in Tanzania. The tested genotypes exhibited significant (P < 0.05) variation for rust resistance, yield and yield-related traits. There existed significant (P < 0.05) difference on the general combining ability (GCA) effect of parents and the specific combining ability (SCA) effect of progeny for the assessed traits indicating that both additive and non-additive gene effects conditioned trait inheritance. The Bakers’ ratios indicated that the non-additive gene effects predominantly controlling rust resistance and yield components. This suggested that transgressive segregants could be selected for improved rust resistance and yield gains in the advanced pure line generations. Genotypes ICGV-SM 05570 and ICGV-SM 15567 were the best general combiners for rust resistance and grain yield. The crosses ICGV-SM 16589 × Narinut and ICGV-SM 15557 × ICGV-SM 15559 were identified as the best specific combiners for rust resistance with moderate yield levels and medium maturity. Genotypes with desirable GCA or SCA effects were selected for further breeding.

Influence of additive and non-additive gene effects on body measurements in the domestic rabbit

General Combining Ability (GCA) and Specific Combining Ability (SCA) were used to determine the influence of additive and non-additive gene effects on growth parameters, using 2 kits produced in full diallel crosses involving three breeds of rabbits namely, New Zealand White (NZW), Dutch (DT) and Chinchilla (CH). GCA was significant (P<0.05) for four out of the twelve traits studied, namely Body length (BL), Heart girth (HG), Ear length (EL) and Tail Length (TL). GCA values ranged from-12.594 for body weight (BWT) to 0.041 for the length of the hind limb (LHL) for NZW, -3.836 for BWT 10 0.123 for Head Circumference (HC) for DT and -0.035 for Head-to-shoulder (HS) and 16.431 for BWT for Chinchilla. SCA was significant (P<0.05) for HS only. SCA estimates ranged from -0.016 (BWT) to 0.187 (HG), 1.018 (BL) to 10.22 (BWT) and -17.09 (LHL) to 7.354 (BWT). for NZW x DT, NZW x CH and DTX CH crosses, respectively. The significant GCH observed in the four growth parameters indicates that genes governing them aci mainly additively. This implies that they may be genetically improved by selection and pure breeding. Significant SCA for HS is an indication that genes governing this character impart non-additive effects, suggesting that improvement could be brought about by exploiting crossbreeding and by improving the environment.

The combining ability of new lines of cucumber for the main economically valuable traits

Relevance. To create heterotic cucumber hybrids, it is important to have a high general and specific combining ability of the initial material, which makes it possible to select valuable genotypes at an early stage of selection. Material and methods. The research was carried out in 2018-2020. at the Research Institute of Vegetable, Melon Crops and Potatoes, located in the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan (SRIVMC&P). Studied 6 accessions of cucumber. As a result of diallelic crosses, 36 hybrid combinations were obtained (p2). Hybridological analysis was carried out according to the first Griffing's method, including forward and backcrossing and the use of parental forms (p2). To determine the combining ability, conventional methodologies were used (1,15). Genetic-statistical analyzes were carried out using the MS Excel application package. Results. Studies have established that according to the traits "the number of days from seed germination to the opening of female flowers" and "the number of days until the technical ripeness of fruits" in all studied cucumber accessions, the ratio (σ 2ĝi<σ 2si) is observed, where the dominant role in the inheritance of this trait also belongs to genes with dominant and epistatic effects. The trait “number of fruits per plant” is controlled by dominant and epistatic gene effects (σ 2ĝi<σ 2si) in almost all cucumber accessions, and in the accession A-6 - by additive gene effects (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si). The phenomenon (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) was noted for the trait "average fruit weight", where the expression of the trait is controlled by the dominant and epistatic effects of genes (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) in three studied cucumber accessions (C-25/1, A-6 and A-9), and in the other three accessions, additive gene effects (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) are more important in inheritance. The trait "productivity of one plant" is controlled by the dominant and epistatic effects of genes (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) in the three studied cucumber accessions, and in the other three accessions (C-25/1, A-6 and A-9), genes play a special role for the expression of the trait with additive effects. Promising hybrid combinations with the best performance for their use as a initial material for breeding have been revealed.

Combining Ability of Quality Protein Maize Inbred Lines for Yield and Morpho-Agronomic Traits under Optimum as Well as Combined Drought and Heat-Stressed Conditions

Drought and heat stress have perceptibly become major maize (Zea mays L.) yield reducing factors in Sub-Saharan Africa. As such, the objectives of this study were to: (i) determine the type of gene action conditioning tolerance to combined drought and heat stress (CDHS), and (ii) identify inbred lines with good combining ability for yield and other morpho-agronomic traits under CDHS. Twenty-four single cross hybrids (SCHs) obtained from crossing 10 inbred lines in a 4 × 6 North Carolina Design II, and a drought-tolerant check, were evaluated under CDHS and optimum conditions in the field. The experiment was laid out in a 5 × 5 alpha lattice incomplete block design, replicated three times. Additive gene effects influenced all the traits under CDHS except grain yield, which was influenced by non-additive gene effects. A preponderance of additive genetic effects was observed for all traits recorded under optimum conditions. Inbred lines L30, L6, L5, L17 and L2 showed good combining ability for yield under CDHS, indicating that they could be good parental lines in hybridization programs. Based on the results, SCHs L2*30, L6*13 and L5*18 exhibited high specific combining ability (SCA) effects for yield under CDHS. These hybrids are recommended for further multi-locational evaluation to determine the stability of their performance.

Analysis of Combining Ability in Rice Varieties for Quantitative Traits

Rice is staple food in Iran. Despite of high quality of local rice, their grain yield is low. In hybridization breeding programs, selection of suitable parents is an essential role for developing new combinations with broadens genetic diversity. Combining ability of local rice varieties namely ‘Hashemi’, ‘Sang Jo’ and ‘Tarom Deylamani’ and ‘Nemat’ was evaluated in a partial diallele analysis for agronomic traits in a randomized complete block design at Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University. General combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) variances showed predominated role of additive gene effects in the inheritance of grain length. Both additive and non-additive components of genetic variances were important in the inheritance of traits like grain yield, plant height, panicle length, total grains per panicle, grain length and grain length to width. However, non-additive gene effects were seen for tiller number. Results showed that ‘Nemat’ was the best general combiner for most of characters followed by ‘Tarom Deylamani’. The cross of ‘Hashemi’ × ‘Tarom Deylamani’ was suggested to exploitation of heterosis breeding for increasing yield and its components in rice breeding programs.

Combining capacity and heterosis in eggplant hybrids under high temperatures

ABSTRACT The objective of this work was to estimate the combinatorial capacity and heterosis of eggplant hybrids under high temperature conditions. Seven genitors, twelve hybrid combinations, originated from a partial diallel, and the Ciça F1 hybrid, as control, were evaluated. The experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions in randomized block design with four replications, from April to December 2017. The assessed traits related to high temperatures were pollen viability (PV) and fruit fixation index (FFI); the morphoagronomic traits were number of fruits per plant (NFP), fruit weight (FWe), production per plant (PP), fruit length (FL), fruit width (FWi), fruit length/width ratio (FLWR) and plant height (PH). The variance analysis showed greater participation of the additive gene effects in relation to the non-additive gene effects in most traits, except for PV. The genitors CNPH 141, CNPH 135, CNPH 109 and CNPH 51 stood out with favorable gene effects to obtain genotypes tolerant to high temperatures, since they present good general combining ability (GCA) for the traits FFI, NFP and PP. The 1x4 and 3x4 hybrids presented positive estimates for both GCA and specific combining ability (SCA), demonstrating a greater potential to be used in breeding to increase the FFI, NFP and PP, under high temperatures. The 1x4, 1x5 and 1x6 hybrids expressed positive heterosis for most analyzed traits. The 1x4 hybrid stood out for the highest averages for PV, FFI, NFP and PP. For FWe, FL, FWi and FLWR, both positive and negative heterosis were observed, as consequence of the phenotypic variability of the genitors for these traits and suggests the possibility of selection for different sizes and formats.

Quantitative genetic analysis of water deficit tolerance in coriander through physiological traits

Drought stress restricts the production of agricultural crops through morphological, physiological and biochemical changes in plants. This study explored the genetic control of physiological traits related to drought in coriander. In a diallel analysis, all six parents, their 15 F1 hybrids and 15 F2 populations were subjected to different irrigation regimes including well-watered, mild and severe water deficit stress. Drought stress decreased the relative chlorophyll content (RCC), the relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll a (Chla), chlorophyll b (Chlb), total chlorophyll (TChl) content, carotenoids (Car) and essential oil yield (EOY) in F1 and F2 generations. General combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability effects were highly significant for all traits in F1 and F2 generations. Additive gene action was predominant for Chla, Chlb, TChl and Car under well-watered condition while non-additive gene effects were more important under mild and severe water deficit stresses in F1 and F2 generations for the above traits. Additive gene effects were more important for RCC, RWC and electrolyte leakage (EL) traits in both F1 and F2 generations under mild and severe water deficit stresses. In conclusion, the high narrow-sense heritability and significant genetic correlations between EOY and RCC, RWC and EL suggest that these traits can be used as surrogates to identify superior genotypes for arid and semi-arid regions. Also, the parental lines, P4 and P6 had the best GCA for RCC, RWC, Chla, Chlb, TChl, Car, essential oil content and EOY.

DIALLEL ANALYSIS OF RESISTANCE TO BACTERIAL STALK ROT (Pectobacterium chrysanthemi pv. zeae Burk., McFad. and Dim.) IN CORN (Zea mays L.)

One of the major disease problems affecting maize farming in the Philippines is bacterial stalk rot (BSR) caused by Pectobacterium chrysanthemi pv. zeae Burk., McFad. and Dim., which is formerly known as Erwinia chrysanthemi. The annual loss due to BSR is estimated at PhP. 20 million equivalent to Rp3.5 billion. At present, there is no effective control method against BSR and, therefore, varietal improvement through breeding resistant germplasms is needed. The present study aimed to determine the combining ability and the extent of additive and non-additive genetic effects in corn inbred lines with a range of reaction to BSR. Four resistant lines (S3YB 137-1-1-B, TUPI (S3) 5-1-B, TUPI (S3) 15-2-B, and 97-835) and two susceptible lines (CML 295 and 97-733) were used as genetic materials. Generation of test entries and evaluation of disease resistance were conducted at the experimental farm station of University of the Philippines Los Banos and Institute of Plant Breeding Los Banos, respectively, during 2002 to 2003 wet seasons. Griffing’s diallel mating system Model 1, Method 1 was followed in generating the test entries to make a total of 36 entries (six selfed parental lines and 15 each of F1 crosses and their reciprocal<br />crosses). The entries were then evaluated for disease resistance in a yield trial following a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two replications. Results of diallel analysis<br />showed two lines, S3YB 137-1-1-B and TUPI (S3) 5-1-B, exhibited the best general combining ability (GCA) for resistance to BSR, while the crosses S3YB 137-1-1-B x TUPI (S3) 5-1-B and TUPI (S3) 5-1-B x 97-835 performed the best specific combining ability (SCA) for the resistance. GCA effect was greater than that of SCA. This indicated that additive gene effects were found to be more important than non-additive gene effects in the expression of resistance to BSR in the six corn lines used. Therefore, breeding programs towards recurrent selection that emphasize GCA would be more appropriate for<br />BSR resistance improvement involving those six lines.

DIALLEL ANALYSIS OF RESISTANCE TO BACTERIAL STALK ROT (Pectobacterium chrysanthemi pv. zeae Burk., McFad. and Dim.) IN CORN (Zea mays L.)

One of the major disease problems affecting maize farming in the Philippines is bacterial stalk rot (BSR) caused by Pectobacterium chrysanthemi pv. zeae Burk., McFad. and Dim., which is formerly known as Erwinia chrysanthemi. The annual loss due to BSR is estimated at PhP. 20 million equivalent to Rp3.5 billion. At present, there is no effective control method against BSR and, therefore, varietal improvement through breeding resistant germplasms is needed. The present study aimed to determine the combining ability and the extent of additive and non-additive genetic effects in corn inbred lines with a range of reaction to BSR. Four resistant lines (S3YB 137-1-1-B, TUPI (S3) 5-1-B, TUPI (S3) 15-2-B, and 97-835) and two susceptible lines (CML 295 and 97-733) were used as genetic materials. Generation of test entries and evaluation of disease resistance were conducted at the experimental farm station of University of the Philippines Los Banos and Institute of Plant Breeding Los Banos, respectively, during 2002 to 2003 wet seasons. Griffing’s diallel mating system Model 1, Method 1 was followed in generating the test entries to make a total of 36 entries (six selfed parental lines and 15 each of F1 crosses and their reciprocal<br />crosses). The entries were then evaluated for disease resistance in a yield trial following a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two replications. Results of diallel analysis<br />showed two lines, S3YB 137-1-1-B and TUPI (S3) 5-1-B, exhibited the best general combining ability (GCA) for resistance to BSR, while the crosses S3YB 137-1-1-B x TUPI (S3) 5-1-B and TUPI (S3) 5-1-B x 97-835 performed the best specific combining ability (SCA) for the resistance. GCA effect was greater than that of SCA. This indicated that additive gene effects were found to be more important than non-additive gene effects in the expression of resistance to BSR in the six corn lines used. Therefore, breeding programs towards recurrent selection that emphasize GCA would be more appropriate for<br />BSR resistance improvement involving those six lines.

Integrating crop growth models with whole genome prediction through approximate Bayesian computation

Genomic selection, enabled by whole genome prediction (WGP) methods, is revolutionizing plant breeding. Existing WGP methods have been shown to deliver accurate predictions in the most common settings, such as prediction of across environment performance for traits with additive gene effects. However, prediction of traits with non-additive gene effects and prediction of genotype by environment interaction (G?E), continues to be challenging. Previous attempts to increase prediction accuracy for these particularly difficult tasks employed prediction methods that are purely statistical in nature. Augmenting the statistical methods with biological knowledge has been largely overlooked thus far. Crop growth models (CGMs) attempt to represent the impact of functional relationships between plant physiology and the environment in the formation of yield and similar output traits of interest. Thus, they can explain the impact of G?E and certain types of non-additive gene effects on the expressed phenotype. Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC), a novel and powerful computational procedure, allows the incorporation of CGMs directly into the estimation of whole genome marker effects in WGP. Here we provide a proof of concept study for this novel approach and demonstrate its use with synthetic data sets. We show that this novel approach can be considerably more accurate than the benchmark WGP method GBLUP in predicting performance in environments represented in the estimation set as well as in previously unobserved environments for traits determined by non-additive gene effects. We conclude that this proof of concept demonstrates that using ABC for incorporating biological knowledge in the form of CGMs into WGP is a very promising and novel approach to improving prediction accuracy for some of the most challenging scenarios in plant breeding and applied genetics.