Development of highly sprouting tolerant wheat germplasm with reduced germination at low temperature

Abstract

The development of sprouting tolerant spring and winter wheat varieties that retain dormancy in cool, wet conditions is a long-term objective in Hokkaido, Japan. A highly tolerant spring dwarf line, ‘OS21-5’, derived from ‘Tordo’ x ‘Zenkoji’, was used to develop transgressive spring, ‘OS38’ and ‘OS74’; and winter, ‘OW77’, ‘OW104’ and ‘OW93’ wheats. More recently, winter lines with improved agronomic performance, though still deficient in quality and scab resistance, have been identified. In general, germination percentage of mature grain at 10 °C was closely related to the mean temperature experienced during the 5 days prior to maturity (dough–yellow ripening stage) and to the capacity to maintain a high amylograph paste viscosity. Dormancy at 10 °C appeared to be determined by a combination of genotype and variation in sensitivity to temperature during the later stages of ripening. Genotypes such as ‘OS38’ and ‘OWl04’ were both highly tolerant to germination at 10 °C and insensitive to temperature during ripening. By comparison, most of the other cultivars showed a similar, intermediate sensitivity to ripening temperature, and dormancy decreased as ripening temperature increased. Dormancy of ‘RL4137’ at maturity, and to a lesser extent ‘Gifukomugi’ and ‘KKI354’, was very sensitive to ripening temperature and useful levels of dormancy only developed under cool ripening temperatures, mean temperature <18–20 °C.