Diallel analysis of morpho-agronomic traits in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5965/223811712442025740Keywords:
Triticum durum, gca, sca, heritability, semi-arid, gene actionAbstract
Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) plays a crucial role in Algeria’s agronomic sector, contributing significantly to the economy and food security. This study assesses the genetic effects and combining abilities of key agronomic traits using a 4 × 4 half-diallel mating design. The parents and their six F1 hybrids were evaluated during the 2021–2022 growing season in a randomized complete block design with three replications at INRAA Institute (Setif, Algeria). Eight morpho-agronomic traits —plant height (PH), spike length (SL), spikes weight (SW), number of spike plant−1 (NS), number of grains spike−1 (NGS), thousand kernel weight (TKW), grain yield (GY) and above-ground biomass (BIO)—were analyzed. Combining ability was assessed using GRIFFING’s Method 2, Model 1 to estimate the general combining ability (gca) and specific combining ability (sca) effects. Significant gca and sca effects were observed across all traits, confirming both additive and non-additive genetic influences. Additive gene effects predominated for PH, SL, and GY, while non-additive effects were more relevant for SW, NS, NGS, TKW, and BIO. Waha (P2) and Beni Mestina (P3) showed significant gca effects for PH, Achouri (P1) for SL and BIO, Beni Mestina (P3) for SW, NS, GY, and MBB (P4) for TKW, indicating their potential as good general combiners. Hybrids Achouri × Waha (H1) and Beni Mestina × MBB (H6) exhibited significant sca effects for PH, while Achouri × Waha (H1) also influenced SL and BIO. Additionally, Beni Mestina × MBB (H6), Achouri × MBB (H3), and Achouri × Waha (H1) exhibited notable sca effects for TKW, indicating complementary gene interactions. These findings provide insights into durum wheat’s genetic architecture, aiding in the selection of promising parents and hybrids for breeding programs. The results emphasize the complexity of hybrid performance prediction and highlight the importance of careful parental selection to enhance yield and related traits.
Downloads
References
ACQUAAH G. 2012. Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding. 2.ed. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons. 740p.
BAKER RJ. 1978. Issues in diallel analysis. Crop Science 18: 533-536.
BELKHARCHOUCHE H et al. 2009. Vigueur de croissance, translocation et rendement en grains du blé dur (Triticum durum desf) sous conditions semi arides. Courrier du Savoir 9: 17-24.
BENBELKACEM A. 2022. Principes d’amélioration des Plantes: Stratégies de sélection variétale des céréales en Algérie. In: Journées scientifiques sur la Connaissance et le Savoir, 16-17 Mai 2022. Bordj Bou Arreridj: Université Mohamed El Bachir El Ibrahimi, Faculté SNV-STU & LCVRN.
BENCHELALI S et al. 2022. Nitrogen use efficiency in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) grown under semiarid conditions in Algeria. Agronomy 12: 1284.
BLANCO A. 2024. Structure and trends of worldwide research on durum wheat by bibliographic mapping. International Journal of Plant Biology 15: 132-160.
BOUDIAR R et al. 2025. Enhancing drought resilience in durum wheat: effect of root architecture and genotypic performance in semi-arid rainfed regions. PeerJ 13: e19096.
CRUZ CD. 2013. Genes: a software package for analysis in experimental statistics and quantitative genetics. Acta Scientiarum. Agronomy, 35: 271-276.
DIMITRIOS A. 2023. Durum Wheat: Uses, Quality Characteristics, and Applied Tests. IntechOpen.
DRAGOV RG. 2022. Combining ability for quantitative traits related to productivity in durum wheat. Vavilov Journal of Genetics and Breeding 26: 515-523.
EL-AREED S et al. 2014. Durum wheat breeding for high yield potential in Egypt. In: PORCEDDU E, DAMANIA AB & QUALSET CO. (Eds.). Proceedings of the International Symposium on Genetics and Breeding of Durum Wheat. Bari: CIHEAM. (Options Méditerranéennes: Série A. Séminaires Méditerranéens 110). p. 291-294.
ES’HAGHI SHAMSABADI E et al. 2019. Diallel analysis of some important morpho-phenological traits in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) crosses. Iranian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding 8: 45-54.
ESTAKHR R & HEIDARI B. 2012. Combining ability and gene action for maturity and agronomic traits in different heterotic groups of maize inbred lines and their diallel crosses. Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology 15: 219-229.
FASAHAT P et al. 2016. Principles and utilization of combining ability in plant breeding. Biometrics & Biostatistics International Journal 4: 1-24.
FELLAHI Z et al. 2018. Analysis of direct and indirect selection and indices in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) segregating progeny. International Journal of Agronomy 2018: 1-11.
FELLAHI Z et al. 2023. Genetic effects of Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b dwarfing alleles on plant height and agronomic traits of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding lines. Genetika 55: 565-581.
FELLAHI Z et al. 2024. Exploitation of the Genetic Variability of Diverse Metric Traits of Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum Desf.) Cultivars for Local Adaptation to Semi-Arid Regions of Algeria. Plants 13: 934.
GALAL AA et al. 2023. Molecular genetic diversity of local and exotic durum wheat genotypes and their combining ability for agronomic traits under water deficit and well-watered conditions. Life 13: 2293.
GRIFFING B. 1956a. Concept of general and specific combining ability in relation to diallel crossing systems. Australian Journal of Biological Sciences 9: 463-493.
GRIFFING B. 1956b. A generalized treatment of the use of diallel crosses in quantitative inheritance. Heredity 10: 31-50.
GROSSE-HEILMANN M et al. 2024. Durum wheat productivity today and tomorrow: A review of influencing factors and climate change effects. Resources, Environment and Sustainability 17: 100170.
GUO Z et al. 2018. Manipulation and prediction of spike morphology traits for the improvement of grain yield in wheat. Scientific Reports 8: 1-10.
HADDAD L et al. 2021. Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) improvement during the past 67 years in Algeria: Performance assessment of a set of local varieties under rainfed conditions of the eastern high plateaus. Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences 14: 327-336.
HAN YL et al. 2018. Analysis of combining ability and heterosis of hybrid soybean. Chinese Journal of Oil Crop Sciences 40: 755-761.
HANNACHI A et al. 2013. Diallel-cross analysis of grain yield and stress tolerance-related traits under semi-arid conditions in Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding 4: 1027-1033.
HANNACHI A & FELLAHI Z. 2023. Efficiency of index-based selection for potential yield in durum wheat [Triticum turgidum (L.) ssp. turgidum convar. durum (Desf.) Mackey] lines. Italian Journal of Agronomy 18: 2182.
HAYMAN BI. 1954. The theory and analysis of diallel crosses. Genetics 39: 789-809.
IQBAL MJ et al. 2022. Nutritional quality of wheat. In: Wheat. IntechOpen.
JINKS JL. 1954. The analysis of continuous variation in a diallel cross of Nicotiana rustica varieties. Genetics 39: 767.
KAMARA MM et al. 2022. Genetic potential and inheritance patterns of physiological, agronomic and quality traits in bread wheat under normal and water deficit conditions. Plants 11: 952.
KARAKAS FP et al. 2021. Profiles of vitamin B and E in wheat grass and grain of einkorn (Triticum monococcum spp. monococcum), emmer (Triticum dicoccum ssp. dicoccum Schrank.), durum (Triticum durum Desf.), and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars by LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis. Journal of Cereal Science 98: 103177.
KOURAT T et al. 2022. Modeling the impact of future climate change on rainfed durum wheat production in Algeria. Climate 10: 50.
LAALA Z et al. 2021. Studies on the nature of relationships between grain yield and yield-related traits in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) populations. Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía Medellín 74: 9631-9642.
LAMARA A et al. 2022. Assessing the phenotypic variation, heritability, and genetic advance in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) candidate lines grown under rainfed semi-arid region of Algeria. Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía Medellín 75: 10107-10118.
LIU Z et al. 2021. Heterosis and combining ability analysis of fruit yield, early maturity, and quality in tomato. Agronomy 11: 807.
MADR-DSASI. 2021. Data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Directorate of Agricultural Statistics and Information Systems, Algiers, Algeria.
MANSOURI A et al. 2018. Variation and relationships among agronomic traits in durum wheat [Triticum turgidum (L.) Thell. ssp. turgidum conv. durum (Desf.) Mackey] under south Mediterranean growth conditions: Stepwise and path analyses. International Journal of Agronomy 2018: 1-10.
MARTÍNEZ-MORENO F et al. 2022. Global changes in cultivated area and breeding activities of durum wheat from 1800 to date: a historical review. Agronomy 12: 1135.
MEKHLOUF A et al. 2006. Adaptation des variétés de blé dur (Triticum durum Desf.) au climat semi-aride. Sécheresse 17: 507-513.
MEZZOMO HC et al. 2022. Combining ability and selection of wheat populations for a tropical environment. Agronomía Colombiana 40: 174-185.
MOHAMMADI M et al. 2021. Emmer wheat as a source for trait improvement in durum wheat: A study of general and specific combining ability. Euphytica 217: 1-20.
NAGAR SS et al. 2018. Diallel analysis of some grain yield traits in wheat. Journal of Cereal Research 10: 45-51.
NOUAR H et al. 2012. Genotype × environment interaction assessment in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) using AMMI and GGE models. Advances in Environmental Biology 6: 3007-3016.
OTTAIANO L et al. 2022. Preliminary results of the use of sowing time and variety choice as techniques of adaptability of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) to temperature increases. Sustainability 14: 14111.
OWUSU EY et al. 2020. Diallel analysis and heritability of grain yield, yield components, and maturity traits in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.). The Scientific World Journal 2020: 1-12.
RABTI A et al. 2020. Characterization of old and recent durum wheat [Triticum turgidum (L.) Tell. convar. durum (Desf.) Mackey] varieties assessed under South Mediterranean conditions. Egyptian Journal of Agronomy 42: 307-320.
RIBEIRO JPO. et al. 2025. Combining ability in F1 and F2 generations of wheat. Ciência Rural 55: e20240337.
RUBBY S et al. 2023. Genetic analysis of grain yield and its contributing traits in four bread wheat Triticum aestivum L. crosses using six parameter model. Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding 14: 154-159.
SAINI MK et al. 2023. Analysis of heterosis, heterotic potential, combining ability, and its correlation with grain yield and physiological traits in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Preprints 2023: 2023081120.
SCHWARZWÄLDER L et al. 2022. Hybrid wheat: quantitative genetic parameters and heterosis for quality and rheological traits as well as baking volume. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 135: 1131-1141.
SHARMA JR. 2006. Statistical and Biometrical Techniques in Plant Breeding. New Age International.
SHEWRY PR & HEY SJ. 2015. The contribution of wheat to human diet and health. Food and Energy Security 4: 178-202.
SINGH RK & CHAUDHARY BD. 1985. Biometrical Methods in Quantitative Genetic Analysis. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, India.
STEEL RGD & TORRIE JH. 1984. Principles and Procedures of Statistics: A Biometrical Approach. New York: McGraw Hill Book Co.
YU KC et al. 2020. Large-scale analysis of combining ability and heterosis for development of hybrid maize breeding strategies using diverse germplasm resources. Frontiers in Plant Science 11: 660.
ZHANG Z et al. 2017. Combining ability analysis of agronomic traits in Indica × Indica hybrid rice. Acta Agronomica Sinica 43: 1448-1457.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Authors & Revista de Ciências Agroveterinárias
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors publishing in this journal are in agreement with the following terms:
a) Authors maintain the copyrights and concede to the journal the copyright for the first publication, according to Creative Commons Attribution Licence.
b) Authors have the authority to assume additional contracts with the content of the manuscript.
c) Authors may supply and distribute the manuscript published by this journal.
