Variation, Heritability and Response to Selection in Natural Populations of Caper Spurge (<i>Euphorbia lathyris</i> L.)

To develop efficient breeding strategies for the improvement of oil content and onset of flowering in Dimorphotheca pluvialis, narrow‐sense heritabilities of these characters were estimated. Forty plant progenies were tested in 2 years and heritabilities were estimated from parent‐offspring regression as well as from half‐sib family variance components analyses. For oil content, the heritabilities estimated by means of parent‐offspring regression were 0.36 and 0.33 for 1993 and 1994, respectively. The heritabilities obtained from the variance components analyses were 0.41 and 0.23 for the two years. Heritability estimates for onset of flowering showed more variation. From parent‐offspring regression, the heritabilities were 0.72 and 0.37, and from variance component analysis the estimates were 0.53 and 0.19 for 1993 and 1994, respectively. The obtained heritability values and realized responses suggest that particularly in early selection generations, even with mass selection, considerable progress can be expected. Since correlation studies revealed neither phenotypic nor genotypic correlation between oil content and onset of flowering, selection for both characters can be undertaken independently.

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Procedure and General Features of Testing Breakage Resistance of Seedcoat in Euphorbia lathyris L.

Hondelmann¹

1990

J Agronomy Crop Science

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The breakage resistance of the seedcoat of Euphorbia lathyris was measured in terms of compressive force and deformation. Using an Instron Universal Testing Machine, seeds of genetically divergent descent were tested at a moisture content comparable to that at harvesting time in the field. In comparison to other crop species breakage resistance of caper spurge is characterized by low values of force and medium ones for deformation. In connection with a likewise weakly expressed degree of elasticity the large portion of damaged seeds observed during mechanical harvesting becomes understandable. Regarding the descent of seed samples the eventual implication of an unsufficient variation of the character in question is becoming evident.

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Variation, Heritability and Response to Selection in Natural Populations of Caper Spurge (Euphorbia lathyris L.)

Cited by 4 publications

References 3 publications

Plant Breeding and Plant Production

Plant Breeding and Plant Production

Heritability of oil content and the onset of flowering in a population of Dimorphotheca pluvialis

Procedure and General Features of Testing Breakage Resistance of Seedcoat in Euphorbia lathyris L.

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