1Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India
2Punjab Agricultural University, Regional Research Station, Gurdaspur-143 521, Punjab, India
*Corresponding Author: K. Kaur, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India. Email: kuldeepjhajj89@gmail.com
Online published on 17 March, 2023.
Biofortification of wheat (Triticum aestivum) with increased micronutrients via conventional plant breeding is a potential mechanism for alleviating micronutrient deficiencies. As the quantitative inheritance for zinc concentration adds towards greater G × E interactions, the study for significant genotype × location interactions for zinc is an important target towards the production of biofortified wheat.
The present study was conducted to evaluate a set of promising zinc elevated wheat backcross lines containing introgressions from T. monococcum and T. boeoticum for grain zinc (ppm) and iron concentration (ppm), protein content (%) and other agronomic and quality traits. Eighteen promising wheat backcross derivatives (BC1F5 and BC2F5) were evaluated along with donor and recipient parents in a randomized complete block design with three replications at two different locations i.e. Ludhiana and Gurdaspur (Punjab) during 2016–17.
Pooled analysis of variance revealed genotype × location interactions were non significant for grain zinc (P>0.05) and protein (P>0.05) which indicated ranking of lines for these traits did not change with location and hence the increase for these traits in wheat lines were stable and not influenced by the environment. The data also indicated a BC2F5 derivative belonging to cross PBW703/BF14//2*PBW703 possessed significantly higher grain zinc concentration at both the locations exhibiting 18% and 16% zinc enhancement over check variety PBW725 at Ludhiana and Gurdaspur, respectively.
Biofortification, Genotype ×, Location interactions, Grain zinc concentration, Triticum aestivum
