Diallel analysis of grain number per spike in triticale

Abstract

In this paper the inheritance of grain number per spike in hexaploid (6x) winter triticale was investigated. Studies were performed on primary spikes of parents, F1 and F2 progenies of a 5 x 5 complete diallel crossing with reciprocals. The results highlighted the prevalence of dominance and over-dominance in the expression of this trait at majority of combinations of F1 generation. Significant difference between direct and reciprocal crosses appeared in both generations and in generally with combinations of the most divergent parents. Analysis of variance for combining abilities demonstrated the existence of highly significant values for general combining ability (GCA), specific combining ability (SCA) and effects of reciprocal crosses (REC). GCA and SCA variations demonstrated similar values, which were for about three times higher than variation caused by reciprocal effects. The best SCA were expressed in generally in combinations of good x average or good x poor GCA of parents.