Additive Genetic Behavior of Stem Solidness in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Stem solidness in wheat is an important architectural trait to support the erect behavior of the plant. The varieties with high yield potential due to increased sink strength tend to lodge either because of poor anchorage or weak stem. The solid stem can partially counter the tradeoff between biomass driven yield gain irrespective of the plant height. Stem solidness being a complex trait with highly variable expressivity, understanding its genetic behavior in different genetic backgrounds is highly essential to integrate this trait in the breeding program. In this study, the expressivity of a solid stem in different internodes was investigated in nine F₂ populations selected from 34 F₁s (solid stem × hollow stem and hollow stem × hollow stem). The progeny of solid stem type F₁ plants from hollow stem parents indicated the complementation of favorable alleles dispersed among the parents. Non-confirmation to digenic complementary (9:7) model of inheritance and polynomial distribution of the trait in all F₂ populations indicates multiple factors complementation in the additive fashion for stem solidness.