A field trial carried out to compare twelve-grain sorghum hybrids, their corresponding parental lines, and H-306, the check hybrid, under different moisture regimes (100% and 40% of evapotranspiration (ET)). The present study conducted at Shandaweel Agricultural Research Station, Sohag Governorate, A.R.C., Egypt, in the agricultural seasons 2022 and 2023. The differences realized between years, irrigation treatments, and genotypes for all traits studied indicate a high degree of variability among these factors. Mean squares for the varying interactions, including genotypes x year, genotypes x irrigation, and genotypes x year x irrigation, indicated a very high level of statistical significance across most traits in study. Two crosses (L3×T1 and L1×T2) recorded excellent performance across both environments closely following the mid and superior parent lines for most traits under investigation. The hybrids (L3×T2) and (L4×T1) exhibited positive and highly significant specific combining ability (SCA) effects for grain yield per plant under both normal and drought conditions. Besides, the hybrids L2×T1 and L3×T1 displayed positive and highly significant SCA effects for 1000-grain weight in both environmental conditions. The top crosses with outstanding positive SCA effects were obtained from the (good × good), (good × poor), (poor × good), and (poor × poor) general combiners, indicating that additive and non-additive genetic actions played a crucial role in the expression of the traits being studied. The additive genetic variances (σ2A) were consistently greater than the non-additive variances (σ2D) for the majority of traits in both seasons, highlighting the prevalence of additive gene action in the inheritance patterns of these traits. In addition, interaction variances σ2A x E were discovered to be larger than those of σ2D x E for the majority of the traits investigated in both seasons, revealing that additive variance was more prone to the influences of drought stress conditions compared to non-additive variance. Moreover, heritability estimates confirmed the predominance of non-additive gene action in the genetic inheritance of the traits being investigated. Therefore, a systematic hybridization program could be initiated to create highly promising grain sorghum hybrids with the potential to perform well under expected water-stressed conditions due to climate change.

Influence of Drought Environment on the Genetic Characteristics and Nature of Gene Action for Different Genotypes of Grain Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)

期刊论文
发表日期：

2026年4月22日

查看全文

Bahaa A. Zarea,
H. M. Hafez,
A. S. M. Younis,
A. Y. M. Ahmed

摘要

A field trial carried out to compare twelve-grain sorghum hybrids, their corresponding parental lines, and H-306, the check hybrid, under different moisture regimes (100% and 40% of evapotranspiration (ET)). The present study conducted at Shandaweel Agricultural Research Station, Sohag Governorate, A.R.C., Egypt, in the agricultural seasons 2022 and 2023. The differences realized between years, irrigation treatments, and genotypes for all traits studied indicate a high degree of variability among these factors. Mean squares for the varying interactions, including genotypes x year, genotypes x irrigation, and genotypes x year x irrigation, indicated a very high level of statistical significance across most traits in study. Two crosses (L₃×T₁ and L₁×T₂) recorded excellent performance across both environments closely following the mid and superior parent lines for most traits under investigation. The hybrids (L₃×T₂) and (L₄×T₁) exhibited positive and highly significant specific combining ability (SCA) effects for grain yield per plant under both normal and drought conditions. Besides, the hybrids L₂×T₁ and L₃×T₁ displayed positive and highly significant SCA effects for 1000-grain weight in both environmental conditions. The top crosses with outstanding positive SCA effects were obtained from the (good × good), (good × poor), (poor × good), and (poor × poor) general combiners, indicating that additive and non-additive genetic actions played a crucial role in the expression of the traits being studied. The additive genetic variances (σ²A) were consistently greater than the non-additive variances (σ²D) for the majority of traits in both seasons, highlighting the prevalence of additive gene action in the inheritance patterns of these traits. In addition, interaction variances σ²A x E were discovered to be larger than those of σ²D x E for the majority of the traits investigated in both seasons, revealing that additive variance was more prone to the influences of drought stress conditions compared to non-additive variance. Moreover, heritability estimates confirmed the predominance of non-additive gene action in the genetic inheritance of the traits being investigated. Therefore, a systematic hybridization program could be initiated to create highly promising grain sorghum hybrids with the potential to perform well under expected water-stressed conditions due to climate change.