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The set of ANK-29 phenotypic traits (low stiff straw, weak tillering, vertical leaves, short and closely packed spike, and spherical grain) was inherited jointly by the progeny during both the NIL development (nine backcrosses) and hybrid segregation in test crosses. It is likely that this set of phenotypic traits is determined by either a single gene s1 or a tightly linked group of genes.

ANK-29 differs considerably from Novosibirskaya 67 and ANK-30 in the lengths of glume, lemma, and palea. Pronounced differences between ANK-30 and Novosibirskaya 67 in the lengths of the glume and lemma were recorded in both years of observation, while the grain and palea were of similar lengths (Table 2). Therefore, the grain length is unconnected to the lengths of glume and lemma. On the contrary, the shortened palea of ANK- 29 suggests that it is the size of palea that determines the grain length.

ANK-29 was inferior to the standard in all productivity constituents except for the number of spikelets in a spike. The decrease in the grain number per spike along with the equal number of spikelets indicates the decreased fertility of the florets of this genotype. ANK-30 did not differ from the recurrent parent in productivity (Table 3) during both years of observation, despite the contrasting weather conditions.


Discussion

The absence of segregation in the F2 generation of the hybrids of the NILs with the corresponding aneuploids confirms the known location (McIntosh 1988; Arbuzova et al. 1996) of the marker genes, s1 (ANK-29) on chromosome 3D and Eg1 (ANK-30) on 7A.

We have earlier recorded a regular decrease in plant biomass and grain size in reduced height genotypes marked with Rht genes (Koval and Koval 1997). The reason lay with an insufficient capacity of the intermediate metabolite depot in vegetative organs. Similarly, the shortened grain in ANK-29 is unable to utilize the metabolites transported from the plant, thus resulting in a decreased productivity. The low harvest index of ANK-29 indicates that metabolites have been utilized incompletely during grain filling and their considerable portion remained in vegetative organs.

One thousand kernel weight is known to correlate very well with the plant productivity and@yield (Millet 1984), thus representing an important breeding trait. However, the NILs have almost reached the limits of grain filling with metabolites, since the linear size of the grain restricts the amount of nutritive substances. Further increase in the 1,000 kernel weight will be possible only with the increase in metabolite capacity of the grain, that is, with an increase in linear size.

Basing on the high ecological stability of the grain linear size (Afanas'ev 1985) compared with its weight (filling of the grain), several plant breeders have suggested selection for the maximal length of the grain aiming to obtain the biggest grain (Korobeinikov 1985). Therefore, the search for the wheat polymorphism in the palea length is an ongoing problem.

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