Quo vadis wheat breeding: a case study in Central Europe

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Quo vadis wheat breeding: a case study in Central Europe L. Leisˇova´-Svobodova´

. J. Chrpova´ . J. Hermuth . L. Dotlacˇil

Received: 11 May 2020 / Accepted: 25 July 2020 / Published online: 18 August 2020 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2020

Abstract Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is one of the most important crop species. It has been further developed since its initial domestication, with significant acceleration of wheat breeding within the last 100 years. In this study, a set of 355 wheat accessions were selected to document the history of bread wheat breeding in Central Europe. Although six periods of breeding were assumed, a notable turning point was identified between periods 3 and 4 around the year 1970 based on phenotype and genotype data, dividing the more than 100 years of bread wheat breeding into only two periods. While the first period corresponded to the use of landraces and genetically diverse varieties for breeding, the second period was typically characterized by reliance on relatively few varieties, leading to modern varieties with very good yields and high resistance to lodging and powdery mildew. A drawback of these breeding programmes was a substantial reduction in genetic diversity. The analysis of population structure showed that genetic diversity is influenced more by pedigree than by the period of

Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-020-02670-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. L. Leisˇova´-Svobodova´ (&)  J. Chrpova´  J. Hermuth  L. Dotlacˇil Research Institute of Crop Production, Drnovska 507, 161 06 Prague, Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected]

breeding. In total, five genetic populations were identified, corresponding (especially within the last 50 years) to the leading genotypes used in breeding programmes: Bankuti 1205, Mironovskaja 808 and Moisson. A high level of correlation was found between the genotype and phenotype data (R = 0.91; p \ 0.01). The results of this study indicated the need to broaden the genetic diversity of bread wheat by including landraces and possibly wild relatives of crops in new breeding or prebreeding programmes. Keywords Triticum aestivum  Wheat breeding  Wheat varieties and landraces  Genetic diversity  Phenotype traits

Introduction Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important crops in the world. After domestication during the Neolithic, * 8000 to 10,000 years ago (Heun et al. 1997), wheat underwent considerable development. Until 1900, landraces were grown and bred via natural selection due to local environmental conditions. Intentional breeding started more than 100 years ago as a way to cope with hunger and poverty. First, landraces were tested, and promising lines were selected. After the rediscovery of Mendelian laws, the era of new wheat varieties arising

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from hybridization was initiated. A milestone in wheat breeding was the introduction of Rht and Pp