Gene action and combining ability studies for grain yield and quality characters in Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

ABSTRACT A study was conducted in fifteen hybrids of bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) developed from six parents (K 9107, PBW 343, K 8020, K 9465, K 9423 and K 7903) to estimate the combining ability and gene action with respect to grain yield and quality characters. Among the 15 hybrids, for test weight, general combining ability (gca) effect varied from 1.06 to 0.97 and specific combining ability (sca) varied from 3.83 to 5.87, for seed hardness, gca effect was – 0.29 to 0.45 and sca was – 1.33 to 1.45, for phenol colour reaction in seed, gca effect varied from – 0.33 to 0.40 and sca from – 0.19 to 0.22, for protein content, gca effect was – 0.42 to 0.61 and sca was – 0.93 to 0.35, for grain yield, gca and sca effects varied from - 1.41 to 2.58 and - 1.57 to 2.93, respectively. Parents PBW 343, K 9107, K 9423 and crosses PBW 343 x K 9423, PBW 343 x K 9465 and PBW 343 x K 8020 showed positive and significant gca and sca effects indicating the importance of both additive and non-additive gene action and were considered as good general and specific combiners, respectively. Based on this study, the best combiners could be effectively used for grain yield and quality characters in the wheat improvement.