ABSTRACT:
The objective of this study was to analize the inheritance of characters in wheat using multivariate analysis of variance. Sixteen genetic constitutions were evaluated between commercial cultivars and progenies F1 and F2. Treatments were arranged in completely randomized blocks, with three replicates. Five characters were evaluated. Multivariate analysis of variance and multivariate contrasts were then performed to test the hypotheses. The significant differences, obtained for comparison between parents and progenies F1, may be evidence of heterosis occurrence. However, only comparisons between progenies P1_P3 (F1) vs. P1_P3 (F2) and P4_P2 (F1) vs. P4_P2 (F2) showed significant differences. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that inheritance of the characters studied is predominantly of the additive type. It is possible that, this occurred due to the degree of relationship between parents who reunited identical alleles at the same locus, by ancestry, as a result of inbreeding effects. The knowledge of additive inheritance may represent a faster incorporation of resistance or quality characteristics in new cultivars.
Key words:
Triticum aestivum; multivariate contrasts; additivity; inbreeding