GENOTYPE AND ENVIRONMENT EFFECTS ON WHEAT QUALITY TRAITS IN A POPULATION DERIVED FROM A SOFT BY HARD CROSS

Advances in understanding the biochemistry and genetics underlying whe at end-use quality require that cereal chemistry research utilize line s grown in the same environments. It also requires that effects of lin kage disequilibrium and small ranges in trait variation be avoided. Ou r objectives were to: 1) ascertain the effects of genotype and environ ment and their interactions on hard and soft wheat end-use quality tra its, and 2) examine relationships between traits and heritability, usi ng recombinant inbred lines derived from a soft by hard wheat cross. A ll traits showed transgressive segregation. Kernel texture (KT) was no t genetically correlated with mixograph traits, indicating the feasibi lity of producing soft-textured genotypes with stronger mixing propert ies. KT was highly genetically correlated with alkaline water retentio n capacity (AWRC) and moderately genetically correlated with flour yie ld (FY). Protein content (PRO) was not genetically correlated with dou gh mixing time across lines, but was with dough mixing strength. KT, F Y, and mixograph traits demonstrated higher heritabilities than did AW RC and PRO. Genotype and environment and their interactions affected a ll traits. Year caused the greatest environment effects, affecting pri marily AWRC and PRO. Genotype affected mainly KT, FY, and peak time. T he effect of environment on those traits supports the need to develop screening methods using genotype rather than phenotype.