The influence of additions of rye chromosomes on plant dry mat ter and root size in bread wheat

Abstract

The toleration of poor soil and high efficiency of mineral nutrients use of rye has been successfully transferred to triticale, but only one rye chromosome (1RS) has been used in wheat breeding. We started studies on identification of other rye chromosomes potentially useful in improvement of wheat, with special emphasis on root characters. We analyzed dry matter, length and number of roots (seminal and adventitious roots separately), together with plant dry matter, in two sets of disomic wheat-rye addition lines (CS-‘Blanco’ and CS-‘Imperial’). Plants were grown in hydroponic culture. In relation to the ‘Chinese Spring’ (CS) wheat, all the addition lines showed decrease of plant and root size parameters. The chromosomes 5R and 7R were best tolerated in wheat, but they caused a decrease of root proportion in plant. The 4R addition was the least viable one, but the root/plant ratio was higher than in wheat. The results were influenced mainly by interaction between homoeology group and cultivar of origin of rye chromosomes. The highest interactions of this kind were found in the 5R and 6R additions