Agronomic evaluation of a tiller inhibition gene (tin) in wheat. I. Effect on yield, yield components, and grain protein
B. L. Duggan A B D , R. A. Richards A , A. F. van Herwaarden A and N. A. Fettell CA CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia.
B Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, PO Box 475, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
C New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Agricultural Research and Advisory Station, Condobolin, NSW 2877, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: brian.duggan@csiro.au
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56(2) 169-178 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR04152
Submitted: 26 June 2004 Accepted: 24 December 2004 Published: 28 February 2005
Abstract
Reduced tillering cereals have been proposed as being advantageous under terminal drought conditions through their reported reduction in non-productive tiller number and reduced soil water use prior to anthesis. This study was conducted to determine whether wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) lines containing the tiller inhibition (tin) gene have a yield penalty over their commercial near-isogenic counterparts. A terminal drought was experienced in all experiments. The effects of the tin gene were investigated in 4 different near-isogenic pairs of lines grown at 2 sowing densities at 4 locations in the eastern Australian wheatbelt over a 3-year period. Averaged over all experiments and lines, grain yield was unaffected by the presence of the tin gene. However, the highest yielding line contained the tin gene and its yield was 5% higher than all other lines. Averaged across the different genetic backgrounds, the tin gene decreased fertile spike number by 11%, increased the number of kernels/spike by 9%, and there was a 2% increase in kernel weight. The tin gene increased the harvest index by an average of 0.02, whereas above-ground biomass was reduced by 7%. Increasing sowing density from 50 to 100 kg/ha had little influence on yield or yield-related characteristics in both the restricted tillering and freely tillering lines. There was an interaction between sowing rate and the presence of the tin gene on yield, with tin lines yielding 0.2 t/ha more than the freely tillering lines at the higher sowing rate, whereas there was no effect at the lower sowing rate. The response of several lines containing the tin gene to nitrogen fertiliser was also investigated at 2 sites. Nitrogen increased spike number in all lines but the number remained around 20% less than in the freely tillering cultivars. The yield of wheat lines containing the tin gene was 6% greater than their near-isogenic pairs where nitrogen status was high in the presence of terminal drought. Grain protein concentration was unaffected by the presence of the tin gene at high grain protein sites, whereas at lower grain protein sites it had a positive effect.
Additional keywords: Triticum aestivum L., nitrogen, drought, reduced tillering, tiller density, water use efficiency, grain yield.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Bernie Mickelson, Vikki Fisher, the CSIRO Ginninderra Experimental Station staff, and the NSW Department of Primary Industries, Condobolin Agricultural Research and Advisory Station for their technical assistance. This project was funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
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