Relationships between Australian wheats on the basis of pedigree, grain protein composition, grain quality and morphology

Abstract

A procedure using numerical analysis has been devised for illustrating ancestry relationships. It has been applied to 60 wheat cultivars recently grown in Australia. The program also permits the grouping of parents to indicate those that are often used in combination. The network illustrating pedigree relationships between these cultivars corresponded closely to a second network which illustrated phenotypic similarities (morphology of plants, heads and grains, agronomic characteristics, grain quality and gluten composition). The specific attributes that most closely followed pedigree relationships were identified in this set of wheats. These procedures thus provide a basis for evaluating the role of pedigree in observed associations between phenotypic characteristics.