Title: HETEROSIS AND INHERITANCE PATTERN OF YIELD TRAITS IN BREAD WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.)
Abstract: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) occupies a prominent position in cropping pattern of Pakistan since it is the main staple food for rapidly increasing population of the country. Keeping in view the importance of wheat production, the prime objective of the study was to investigate the genetics and heredity control of the yield related traits. To achieve the objective a 4×4 diallel cross was attempted using Punjab-11, RARI-6026, Uqab-2000 and Renya-23 genotypes. The F1 was evaluated using RCBD with three replications in the experimental area of Plant Breeding and Genetics, UCA&ES, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur. The data were taken for yield related traits i.e. days to heading, flag leaf area (cm 2 ), number of tillers/plant, plant height (cm), spike length (cm), number of spikelets/spike, number of grains/spike, grain weight/spike (g), seed index (g) and grain yield/plant (g). The analysis of variance depicted significant differences among the genotypes for all the studied traits. The cross Renya-23 × Punjab-11 exhibited maximum possible degree of heterobeltiosis for days to heading (-12.2), flag leaf area (5.3), tillers per plant (10.7), plant height (-8.2), grain weight per spike (18.5) and grain yield per plant (18.4) which may be used in further breeding programs for selecting transgressive segregates in the segregating generations. The genetic analysis revealed that additive gene action with partial dominance was controlling the heredity of all the traits studied. Presence of heterobeltiosis along with additive gene action suggests the potential of above