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Inheritance of Plant Height, Yield of Grain, and Other Plant and Seed Characteristics in A Cross of Hard Red Winter Wheat, Triticum aestivum L.¹

The inheritance mechanisms of seven plant and seed characters were studied in the F₁, backcrosses and segregating generations from the cross of two winter wheat varieties differing in plant height and other characteristics.

Evidence for the control of plant height by three major gene pairs was obtained. Additive gene action accounted for most of the plant height variance. Maturity was controlled by a single dominant gene pair for earliness. A bimodal F₂ frequency distribution for kernel weight indicated operation of a relatively few genes. Heterosis for high yield was evident. The 4380-pounds-per-acre yield of the F₁ exceeded the most productive parent by 12.9%. Heavy kernel weight and, to a lesser extent, number of spikes per plant contributed to the high yield of the F₁. The genetic expression of spike length and number of rachis internodes was completely additive.

Heritability percentages for plant height, spike length, maturity, and kernel weight were sufficiently high to indicate that selection in the F₂ for these traits could be effective. Selection for number of rachis internodes, number of tillers, or grain yield would be ineffective. Plant height was significantly correlated with kernel weight, spike length, maturity, grain yield, number of spikes per plant, and number of rachis internodes.

² Research Agronomist, U. S. Department of Agriculture; Graduate Assistant (now Graduate Assistant, University of Washington, Seattle); Assistant Professor of Agronomy (now Geneticist, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Corvallis, Oregon); and Professor of Agronomy, University of Nebraska, respectively.

Received for publication February 2, 1966.