The improvement of grain mold resistance in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) M
oench] has been difficult, presumably because of the complex inheritance of
the trait. The objective of this study was to determine the Inheritance of
grain mold resistance by generation means analysis, The F-1, F-2, and back
cross generations of a cross between 'Sureno' (a dual-purpose food grain an
d forage variety, resistant to grain mold) and 'RTx430' (a widely adapted i
nbred line, highly susceptible to grain mold) were evaluated in eight diffe
rent held environments, Significant differences in grain mold incidence bet
ween the generations evaluated in this study were observed in all environme
nts. Combined analysis detected a significant generation five-environment i
nteraction indicating that the genotypes reacted differently to each enviro
nment. Generation means analysis of transformed grain mold scores detected
additive effects in all eight environments, and dominance effects were dete
cted in seven of eight environments, Epistatic effects were detected in onl
y two of eight environments, but combined analysis indicated that higher or
der interactions were important when evaluated across environment. Broad-se
nse heritability estimates ranged from 0.46 to 0.82, while narrow-sense her
itability estimates ranged from 0.39 to 0.59. At least four to 10 genes wer
e estimated to contribute to grain mold resistance. The results of this stu
dy indicate that selection in specific environments is useful for enhancing
resistance to mold in these environments, but it may not be as effective i
n providing grain mold resistance across a wide range of environments.