Capturing GEI Patterns for Quality Traits in Biparental Wheat Populations

Abstract

Genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI) is often a great challenge for breeders since it makes the selection of stable or superior genotypes more difficult. In order to reduce drawbacks caused by GEI and make the selection for wheat quality more effective, it is important to properly assess the effects of genotype, environment, and GEI on the trait of interest. In the present study, GEI patterns for the selected quality and mixograph traits were studied using the Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) model. Two biparental wheat populations consisting of 145 and 175 RILs were evaluated in six environments. The environment was the dominant source of variation for grain protein content (GPC), wet gluten content (WGC), and test weight (TW), accounting for approximately 40% to 85% of the total variation. The pattern was less consistent for mixograph traits for which the dominant source of variation has been shown to be trait and population-dependent. Overall, GEI has been shown to play a more important role for mixograph traits compared to other quality traits. Inspection of the AMMI2 biplot revealed some broadly adapted RILs, among which, MG124 is the most interesting, being the prevalent “winner” for GPC and WGC, but also the “winner” for non-correlated trait TW in environment SB10.