The collection of Triticum durum Desf. in the Polish gene bank as a source of initial materials in genetics and plant breeding studies

Abstract

In the year 1976 at the Institute of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology of the present University of Life Sciences in Lublin (Poland) research was commenced, which was aimed at gathering and assessing durum wheat collection. The assessment of the objects is conducted in a 3-year cycle of field experiments, which after many years of valorization are transferred to the air-conditioned storage of IHAR in Radzików to preserve their vitality. The studies test the world’s genotypes in the soil and climatic conditions of our country. So far 2072 objects of spring durum wheat have been collected. The gathered collection material comes from more than 40 countries. Quite a substantial group is made up of the forms coming from Mexico, Egypt, Italy, as well as from the countries of the former Soviet Union. The collected genotypes represent ca. 50 different botanic varieties, and the largest group consists of such botanic varieties as: var. leucurum, var. leucomelan and var. hordeiforme, which jointly constitute more than 50% of the gathered hard wheat collection and they are the subject of this study. The presented results concern multi annual means of more significant utility features, including the yield-producing features of spike, as well as field assessment. The studies reveal that the collected genotypes have a high variability spectrum of the features under discussion. Different correlations take place between the particular yield-producing features. Genotypes with a high weight of a spike usually have a high weight of 1000 grains, which is confirmed by high correlation coefficients, whereas genotypes with a high weight of 1000 grains reveal lower contents of total protein in grain, as the correlation between these features is negative.