This experiment was carried out during the 2023-2024 crop season to estimate general combining ability, specific combining ability, variance components and genetic parameters for vegetative growth characters of F2 and F3 flax hybrids. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications at Al-Hamdia Research Station, College of Agriculture, University of Anbar. Seven parental genotypes including four males (Sakaa 1, Sakaa 2, Sakaa 3, and Sakaa 5) and three females (Sakaa 6, Geza 8 and Souri) were crossed in factorial mating design leading to generation of twelve F2 hybrids and twelve F3 hybrids. Highly significant differences (p < 0.01) were observed between parents and hybrids, indicating high genetic diversity. In the F2 generation, hybrids of Geza 8 had better general combining ability for total chlorophyll content, stem diameter and number of secondary branches per plant. On the other hand, F3 generation had high performance in case of F2's derived from Sakaa 2 at days to flowering 50% and number of main branches per plant. The findings indicate that here is rich genetic resource among the germplasm tested and Geza 8 and Sakaa 2 can be potential parent combination for selection superior cultigens with regards to vegetative growth characters in flax breeding.
The water deficiency in all cotton-growing areas has reduced the chances of obtaining high yields in recent years. Therefore, developing cotton that is tolerant to water stress, has a high yield, and has superior fiber quality traits is one of the most crucial breeding objectives. In this study, Ramses, Bomba, Fiona, May-455, Bir-949, and Ozbek-100 cotton varieties with high yield and fiber technological properties were used as the female; Eva, Sahin-2000, Sasha, and Sahra-09 cotton varieties tolerant to water stress were used as the male. These were crossed according to the line & times; tester mating pattern, and 24 F1 hybrids were obtained. The parents and F1 hybrids were tested under 100% and 25% irrigation. Genotypes performed significantly differently in irrigation conditions. Ginning out-turn and fiber length under both normal and deficit irrigation conditions were controlled by additive genes, whereas seed cotton yield, fiber fineness, and fiber strength were controlled by non-additive genes. Among the parents, Bir-949 had the highest mean values for all traits, whereas Sahra-09 had significant and positive GCA effects. The Bir-949 & times; Sahra-09 hybrid combination obtained from crossing the best combining parents was the most promising hybrid regarding average performance and SCA effects.
Genotype × environment interaction (GEI) is a major constraint on reliable cultivar recommendation in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), particularly across environments that contrast in temperature, rainfall, and crop duration. In this study, the magnitude and structure of GEI were characterized in six groundnut genotypes, comprising five cultivars registered before the trials and Ayşehanım (G3), an unregistered test genotype in 2016–2017 that was registered in 2018; genotypes combining high mean performance with stability were identified; and the cultivars closest to a multi-trait ideotype were examined, as a panel-specific decision aid, under the Mediterranean-type conditions of three Turkish production areas (Adana, Antalya, and Manisa). The cultivars were evaluated across six environments (three locations × two years, 2016–2017; each location × year combination treated as a macro-environment) in a randomized complete block design with four replications, and seven phenological, agronomic, and quality traits were recorded. Data were analyzed by combined analysis of variance and by AMMI, GGE biplot, WAASB/WAASBY, BLUP, and MGIDI; given heterogeneous error variances among environments, genotype BLUPs were obtained from a mixed model with environment-specific residual variances, and the homogeneous-variance model was retained as a sensitivity analysis. Environment and GEI were highly significant for all traits (p < 0.01). For seed yield, environment accounted for 64.1% of the variation, whereas GEI (22.4%) surpassed the genotype effect (13.5%); within the environmental term, the location × year interaction (28.8%) exceeded both location (19.6%) and year (15.7%), indicating location-specific year responses. WAASBY, BLUP, and GGE consistently identified Sultan (6483 kg ha⁻¹) and Halisbey (6369 kg ha⁻¹) as the highest-yielding cultivars with acceptable stability across the six tested environments, whereas the exploratory MGIDI analysis ranked NC-7 and Ayşehanım nearest the ideotype. The two criteria favored distinct cultivars, with higher seed yield and lower shelling percentage forming a descriptive pattern among the leading cultivars rather than an established relationship between the traits. These results indicate that GEI, rather than mean yield alone, governed cultivar performance in this trial network, and suggest a complementary framework for regional evaluations of this scale in which WAASBY/BLUP and GGE guide yield–stability assessment and MGIDI supports multi-trait screening. Cultivar recommendations are provisional and require validation under current climatic and management conditions.
The present study was carried out to assess the inheritance of bread wheat for spike related traits by developing five generations (P₁, P₂, F₁, F₂, and F₃) from seven bread wheat cross combinations. The multi-location testing and five parameter model was applied to get a clear insight into gene effects controlling the traits. All generations of each cross were sown at two locations. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant effect of environment on all the traits. Significant to highly significant differences were observed among generations (P₁, P₂, F₁, F₂, and F₃) in most of the cross combinations. Significant generation × location interaction was also noted in most crosses. The data on generation means indicated that the Maxipak variety and its segregating generations exhibited the highest mean values for spikelets per spike (22.7) and awn length (8.6 cm). The highest mean for spike length was recorded in the F₁, F₂, and F₃ generations of RK-23 × Gold. Gene action studies revealed that the inheritance of spike length and spikelets per spike was predominantly controlled by additive and epistatic gene effects in most cross combinations. Awn length was mainly influenced by dominance × dominance gene effects in most crosses, although some cross combinations also exhibited dominant and additive types of gene action. Therefore early generation selection is effective for spike length and spikelets per spike, while selection should be conducted in later generations for awn length.
The international program of Kazakhstan–Siberian Network on Spring Bread Wheat Improvement (KASIB), established with the assistance of CIMMYT in 2000, is aimed at the search for new genetic sources of agronomic traits. In 2023–2025, 48 varieties of spring bread wheat of the KASIB-24 nursery, developed at 15 research and breeding institutions of Russia and Kazakhstan, were studied; they were genotyped using 14 PCR markers according to standard protocols. The research aimed to assess the genotypic diversity of promising varieties and lines of spring bread wheat of the KASIB-24 nursery and to reveal the effects of certain genes on yield and agronomically important traits in the ecological zones of Western Siberia and Ural. Genetic differentiation of the accessions of the KASIB-24 nursery using 14 DNA markers identified three clusters, without a clear grouping of the genotypes according to their affiliation with breeding programs. Analysis of the allelic variant associations with agronomically valuable traits revealed, in Omsk, a statistically significant effect (p < 0.05) of the dominant Vrn-A1 allele on the reduction of period to heading and maturity (by an average of 3 days), as well as a reduction in plant height (–3.9…–9.43 cm). In Tyumen, genotypes with Vp-B1c haplotype were characterized by earlier heading and maturation (88–91 days). In 2023, in Omsk under severe drought, plants with the DRO-5A/Hap-C allelic variant had a higher thousand kernel weight (+14.5 g). Accessions carrying favorable haplotypes at most loci were identified and are recommended as genetic sources of agronomically valuable traits for hybridization programs.
