Distribution of the Rht-B1b, Rht-D1b and Rht8 reduced height genes in autumn-sown Chinese wheats detected by molecular markers

Abstract

Reduction of plant height has played a significant role in improving wheat production and knowledge of dwarfing genes in Chinese wheat will be very important for developing high yielding cultivars. Molecular markers were used to detect the presence of genes Rht-B1b (Rht1), Rht-D1b (Rht2) and Rht8 in 220 wheat genotypes from autumn-sown wheat regions in China. They include landmark landraces, leading cultivars and core parents involved in wheat breeding from the 1950s to the present. Results indicated that Rht-D1b and Rht8 dominate with frequencies of 45.5% and 46.8%, respectively, followed by Rht-B1b with a frequency of 24.5%. The frequencies of Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b increased, from 8.6 to 32.2% and 36.2 to 53.4%, respectively, whereas the frequency of Rht8 has remained constant over time, when compared with cultivars released before and after 1990. This indicates that both the Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b were successfully used in wheat production in Chinese environments. Our study shows that Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b can be used in

Functional markers in wheat: current status and future prospects

“…The semi-dwarfing genes Rht-B1b (Rht1) and Rht-D1b (Rht2) widely present in commercial cultivars reduce plant height, increase harvest index, and improve lodging resistance, and consequently increase grain yield. Functional markers for the two genes were developed and used for discrimination of semi-dwarf (Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b) and wild-type alleles (Rht-B1a and Rht-D1a) (Ellis et al 2002;Zhang et al 2006). However, the PCR conditions are very stringent for the FMs of Rht-B1 and Rht-D1, in which Hotstar Taq DNA polymerase needs to be used for a reliable PCR amplification (Ellis et al 2002).…”

Distribution of dwarfing genes (Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b) in Martonvásár wheat breeding materials

“…The Rht-D1b allele played only a minor role in the reduction of plant height in the Martonvásár breeding programme. Interestingly, in China and Germany the frequency of the Rht-D1b allele was higher than that of the Rht-B1b allele (Zhang et al, 2006;Knopf et al, 2008).…”

Optimization of Agricultural Input Efficiency for Wheat Production in China Applying Data Envelopment Analysis Method

“…Water resource is another important factor influencing crop productivity (Hardin, 2008;Zhang et al, 2006;Fischer et al, 2007). The irrigated lands produce 75% of grain production for its huge population in China (Peng et al, 2015;Xiong et al, 2010).…”

“…Fast-growing of the cities and industries also facilitate water consumption and water pollution (Kirby et al, 2003). Additionally, as improving of the irrigation and fertility condition, farmers apply too many seeds, crops become more susceptible to lodging and low efficiency of photosynthesis causing low output (Yu, 1987;Zhang et al, 2006). Therefore, to maintain grain supplement stably and safely, it is critical to improve the utilization efficiency of agricultural inputs, save resource consumption and ensure food security.…”