Abstract
Seed dormancy complicates the agricultural use of many legume species. Understanding the genetic and environmental drivers of seed dormancy is necessary for advancing crop improvement for legumes, such as Vicia villosa. In this study, we quantify the magnitude of genetic and environmental effects on physical dormancy among 1488 maternal V. villosa plants from 18 diverse environments. Furthermore, we explore the relationship between physical dormancy and environmental conditions during seed development. Additive genetic variance (h2) accounted for 40% of the variance, while the growing environment explained 28% of the variance in physical dormancy. Maternal lines showed complete variance in physical dormancy, as one line was 100% dormant, and 56 lines were 0% dormant. Distributions of physical dormancy varied widely among seed production environments, with some site-years strongly skewed toward physically dormant seed, while other site-years exhibited little dormant seed. Twenty-three weather variables were associated with environmental and error effects of physical dormancy. High mean and minimum relative humidity, low mean and maximum temperature, and high precipitation weakly grouped with low physical dormancy. Weather variables calculated from fixed time windows approximating seed maturity to seed harvest at each site-year tended to be less predictive than biological seed drying windows calculated based on seed maturity of each maternal line. Overall, individual and cumulative effects of weather variables were poor predictors of physical dormancy. Moderate heritability indicates that breeding programs can select against physical dormancy and improve V. villosa for agricultural use. Marker-based approaches would maximize selection for physical dormancy by reducing the influence of unpredictable environmental effects.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1804 |
| Journal | Agronomy |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was funded by National Institute for Food and Agriculture grant numbers 2015-51300-24192, 2018-51300-28424, and 2018-67013-27570.
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: We would like to thank Rick Hitchcock and Aurélie Poncet for compilation of NOAA and NASA weather data. Field support was provided by Rebecca Heidelberger, Megan Poskaitis, and Allen Burke. We thank DaviAdcPknoodwolleld, SgtmeveenWGtser:wofof,uldJe loikfefrtoythDarnilkRlaiuckdH,itacnhdccokthaenIdnAsutriétluietPeonfocretF fioecrlodmpainladtiVoenogfNetOaAbAleaCndrops Maksima Gorkog for donNaAtioSnAo wf egaetrdhmeaprt.al Fasiemld. support provided by Rebewas cca Heidelberger, Megan Poskaitis, and Allen Burke. We thank David Podoll, Steve Groff, Jeoffry Drillaud, and the Institute for Field and Vegetable Crops Maksima Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial Gorkog for donation of germplasm. or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publishnot imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Dethe results. partment of Agriculture. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript,
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Environmental control
- Genotypes
- Seed dormancy
- Vetch