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

In breeding wheat varieties with good flour quality methods of quality testing are needed that can be carried out quickly on small samples, such as the SDS test. The objectives of the study were to determine he ritability estimates for the SDS sedimentation volume of the flour of the F-1, F-2, F-3 generations of 4 crosses of 3 Hungarian and 4 North American winter wheat varieties. The dominance of the variety with low er sedimentation volume was generally observed in the F-1 generation, but the means of the F-2 and F-3 generations of crosses were similar t o their midparent values. The heterosis also depended on the crop-year and the plant density. In the case of two crosses the heritability (h (2)) and gene number could be estimated on the basis of the means and variances of different generations. The broad sense heritability estim ates (h(b)(2)) of the the combinations Gb/Andr and Ben;VA were 0.56 an d 0.63 respectively, indicating fairly good heritability. The narrow s ense heritability values (h(n)(2)) were 0.50 and 0.35 respectively, wh ich were still quite good estimates, knowing that quality is strongly affected by environmental factors. The SDS sedimentation test can thus be used as an effective tool in selection for breadmaking quality. Th e differences in the SDS sedimentation volumes of the parents in these two combinations are caused by a single gene judging by the gene numb er estimations.