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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 59(5)

CIMMYT’s use of synthetic hexaploid wheat in breeding for adaptation to rainfed environments globally

J. Lage A B D and R. M. Trethowan A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Apdo. Postal 6-641, 06600 Mexico D.F., Mexico.

B California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation, Rice Experiment Station, PO Box 306, Biggs, CA 95917, USA.

C University of Sydney, Plant Breeding Institute, PMB 11 Camden, NSW 2570, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: jlage@crrf.org

Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 59(5) 461-469 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR07223
Submitted: 14 June 2007  Accepted: 16 January 2008   Published: 12 May 2008

Abstract

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has had significant impact on wheat production in rainfed regions of the developing world. During the last decade, yield potential has increased in drought-prone areas partly due to the use of synthetic hexaploid wheat (SHW), produced through interspecific hybridisation of Triticum turgidum spp. and Aegilops tauschii, followed by chromosome doubling. The objectives of this study were to document the use of SHW in wheat breeding at CIMMYT and quantify its potential effect on global wheat adaptation. The first SHW-derived lines targetted at rainfed conditions appeared in the 5th Semi-Arid Wheat Yield Trial (SAWYT) representing 8% of the lines, increasing to 46% by the 15th SAWYT. During the same period the average coefficient of parentage of SHW in all synthetically derived crosses decreased from 75 to 19%. Average yield rank of genotypes across locations and years was used as a performance indicator of the SHW-derived lines in SAWYT 5–12. In the 5th SAWYT the average rank of the SHW-derived lines was 30 (out of 50) increasing to 25 by the 12th SAWYT. SAWYT 11 was the first trial to include SHW-derived lines bred exclusively for rainfed environments, using directed selection for drought tolerance. International trial data from SAWYT 11 and 12 showed that the SHW-derived line Vorobey was a top-performing line. Vorobey performed well across all environments compared with the best locally adapted check cultivar at each location; trial means ranged from 1 to 8 t/ha. To further exploit genetic diversity for adaptation to drought, SHW has been produced using emmer wheat (T. turgidum L. subsp. dicoccon) as the tetraploid parent. Yield trial data from Mexico show that SHW derivatives based on emmer wheat improved yield performance under drought compared with their drought-tolerant recurrent parents. The use of SHW in wheat breeding for rainfed environments at CIMMYT has increased significantly over the past 10–15 years and the performance and effect of the derived lines have improved with time.

Additional keywords: international trial data, drought.


Acknowledgments

The authors express their thanks to Dr Mujeeb-Kazi for developing the primary synthetic hexaploid wheats that were used as parents to develop the derived lines in this study. The valuable contribution of CIMMYT’s International Wheat Improvement Network and Seed Health Unit in the preparation and distribution of the trials is acknowledged, as are the many cooperators from the national programs of many countries who grew these trials and returned data to CIMMYT for analysis. The authors also acknowledge the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) for providing financial support for aspects of this work.


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