INHERITANCE OF SDS SEDIMENTATION VOLUME OF FLOUR IN CROSSES OF WINTER-WHEAT (TRITICUM-AESTIVUM L.)

In wheat breeding, the selection for good flour quality requires metho ds of quality testing which can be carried out quickly on small sample s, for example the SDS test. The objectives of the present study were to determine the heritability of the flour SDS sedimentation volume in generations F-1, F-2 and F-3 of 4 crosses of 3 Hungarian and 4 North American winter wheat varieties. The dominance of a variety with a low er sedimentation volume was generally observed in generation F-1, but the means for generations F-2 and F-3 of crosses were similar to their midparent values. The heterosis depended on the crop-year and plant d ensity, too. For two crosses, the heritability (h(2)) and gene number could be estimated via the means and variances for different generatio ns. The heritability estimates in a broad sense (h(b)(2)) of the combi nations Gb/Andr and Be/WA were 0.56 and 0.63, respectively, which impl y a rather good heritability. The h(2) values in narrow sense were 0.5 0 and 0.35, respectively; these were quite good estimates, since the q uality is strongly affected by environmental factors. It was assumed t hat the SDS sedimentation test can be used as an effective tool of sel ection for breadmaking quality. Gene number estimations indicate that the differences in the SDS sedimentation volumes of the parents of the se two combinations are caused by one gene.