Browsing by Author "Ntladi, Solomon Magwadi"

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    Implementation of marker assisted breeding in triticale
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011-12) Ntladi, Solomon Magwadi; Botes, Willem; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of AgriSciences. Dept. of Genetics.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Research into markers for the detection of genetic diversity and cultivar identification has become an important component of the genetic improvement of crops. However, the incorporation of marker assisted selection (MAS) as a tool for the identification and characterization of breeding material has not been fully implemented in the breeding of spring triticale at Stellenbosch University’s Plant Breeding laboratory (SU-PBL). The present study served as a case study in order to achieve this. The first part of the study concerned the detection of genetic diversity in 101 newly sourced triticale cultivars, from a USDA germplasm bank, together with five local control cultivars, in order to identify possible crossing parents. Eight SSR markers, including five derived from rye and three from wheat, and five agronomic characteristics were used to assess diversity. In seedling screening the foreign cultivars showed resistance towards the stem rust isolate used, but were mostly susceptible to the leaf rust isolate. Out of the 8 SSR markers tested, 7 markers were polymorphic and revealed 140 alleles varying from 12 to 26 with an average of 17.5 alleles per locus. The observed polymorphic information content (PIC) value ranged from 0.39 to 0.88 with an average of 0.70, indicative of the good discriminatory ability of the SSR markers. The data revealed that the South African cultivars were genetically closely related to cultivars from the USA and Canada. The second part of the study focused on the introgression of a blue aleurone layer gene (Ba), carried by a wheat cultivar, ‘Cltr1202STR’, and purple pericarp genes (Pp1; Pp3) also carried by a wheat cultivar, ‘Amethyst’, into a triticale background. Unfortunately the introgression of the purple pericarp genes failed. Two lines containing the blue aleurone layer, 11T023 and 11T028, were however successfully created. Molecular typing of these lines with SSR markers were able to show that BC4F1 line 11T023 (Ba) B was genetically similar to the recurrent parent ‘Agbeacon’; and that the BC4F1 11T028 line (Ba) A was closest to the ‘US2007’ recurrent parent. The study illustrated that MAS was a reliable tool for detecting genetic diversity in newly sourced germplasm, and assisted in making a backcross breeding effort more effective. The data generated from MAS could therefore clearly assist in making the SU-PBL breeding program more effective by moving, better informed, decision making toward data based partly on the genotype, thereby minimizing the risks associated with purely phenotypic based decisions.