Tolerance to thermic stress in wheat genotypes

Abstract

The objective of this work was to verify the effect of thermic stress conditions on the wheat culture, to evaluate the tolerance level of parents and segregant populations to these conditions, as well as to identify promising populations in order to obtain lines adapted to the Brazilian Central region. A circulant dialel was used among eight parents, comprising the cultivars Aliança, Anahuac, BH 1146, BR 24, BRS 207 and Pioneiro; and the lines CPAC 9662 and EP 93541. Thirty F_2:4 families descending from the eight segregant populations and the eight genitors were evaluated. Experiments were carried out in the field and the sowings were performed in the summer (heat stress condition) and winter (favorable condition) of 2004. The lattice design with two replicates was used. Days to heading, plant height, average grain weight, and grain yield were evaluated. In the summer, high temperature reduced all characters evaluated, and thermic stress effects were determined by that reduction percent in comparison to winter cropping values. Differences among genotypes in both sowing dates were also observed. The most heat-tolerant materials were the parents Anahuac, BH 1146, BR 24 and EP 93541, and the segregant populations Aliança/EP 93541, EP 93541/CPAC 9662, and BH 1146/BR 24.