Abstract
Key message
The use of a breeding strategy combining the evaluation of line per se with testcross performance maximizes annual selection gain for hybrid wheat breeding.
Abstract
Recent experimental studies confirmed a high commercial potential for hybrid wheat requiring the design of optimum breeding strategies. Our objectives were to (1) determine the optimum allocation of the type and number of testers, the number of test locations and the number of doubled haploid lines for different breeding strategies, (2) identify the best breeding strategy and (3) elaborate key parameters for an efficient hybrid wheat breeding program. We performed model calculations using the selection gain for grain yield as target variable to optimize the number of lines, testers and test locations in four different breeding strategies. A breeding strategy (BS2) combining the evaluation of line per se performance and general combining ability (GCA) had a far larger annual selection gain across all considered scenarios than a breeding strategy (BS1) focusing only on GCA. In the combined strategy, the production of testcross seed conducted in parallel with the first yield trial for line per se performance (BS2rapid) resulted in a further increase of the annual selection gain. For the current situation in hybrid wheat, this relative superiority of the strategy BS2rapid amounted to 67 % in annual selection gain compared to BS1. Varying a large number of parameters, we identified the high costs for hybrid seed production and the low variance of GCA in hybrid wheat breeding as key parameters limiting selection gain in BS2rapid.
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Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the financial support by BMBF within the HYWHEAT project (Grant ID: FKZ0315945D). This paper is dedicated to one of the pioneers in selection theory in plant breeding, Prof. Dr. H. Friedrich Utz, on the occasion of his 75th anniversary. Thanks to two anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions largely improved the manuscript.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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The authors declare that the experiments comply with the current laws of Germany.
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Communicated by Mark E. Sorrells.
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Longin, C.F.H., Mi, X., Melchinger, A.E. et al. Optimum allocation of test resources and comparison of breeding strategies for hybrid wheat. Theor Appl Genet 127, 2117–2126 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-014-2365-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-014-2365-0