S.C.A.-AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH STATION
Turda, 3350, str. Agriculturii 27, jud. Cluj, Romania.
V. Moldovan, Maria Moldovan, and Rozalia Kadar.
The 1999-00 crop season. In autumn 1999, the weather conditions were nearly normal and permitted good land preparation for wheat. The wheat crop was seeded near the normal time (1-20 October) except in certain situations where the previous crop's harvest was delayed. Thus, the wheat crop began winter in different growth stages, from one shoot to plants with tillers. Winter conditions, especially cool temperatures, caused no significant winter damage on the wheat crop, because the majority of fields in this area were protected by a slight snow cover, despite a deficit in precipitation during January and February. March was dry, with temperatures slightly below normal. Wheat was slow to break winter dormancy. April was much warmer than normal, associated with severe drought, which caused stand losses because of root drying. Wheat development was slow. During May, high temperatures and a worsening drought magnified the water deficit accumulated from the previous months. In these conditions, wheat headed 2 weeks earlier than normal. Plant height also was much reduced, which resulted in diminished biomass, and leaf death was earlier. Nevertheless, there was no significant development of foliar diseases. Temperatures and the severe drought continued in June and July, so the grain-filling process was affected and yields were diminished by 40-50 % of the normal yield potential. Overall, the 1999-00 wheat season was the worst drought in the last 40-50 years.
The HRWW cultivar Turda 2000, belonging to T. aestivum subsp. vulgare var. erythrospermum, was released in 2000. Developed at the ARS Turda, Turda 2000 was derived from the cross 'Apullum/Ariesan' using a pedigree-selection method. Parents are well-adapted wheat varieties, which benefit from the wide acceptance and popularity of the Turda commercially-grown winter wheat varieties among wheat producers in the central and north regions of Romania.
Turda 2000 combines high yield and stability from Ariesan with
good bread-making quality from Apullum. The variety is an awned,
white-glumed, semidwarf (90-100 cm), and medium-maturity wheat
(intermediate between Ariesan and Apullum). Kernels of Turda 2000
are hard, red, and elliptical with a midsize germ and a short
brush. The kernel size is quite large, similar to that of Ariesan
(1,000-kernel weight is 49-54 g).
Turda 2000 has good resistance to winter kill, lodging, and shattering.
Turda 2000 has shown moderate resistance to yellow rust, stem
rust, powdery mildew, Septoria, and Fusarium, but
is susceptible to leaf rust.
Turda 2000 is characterized by high yield potential. Grain yields did not differ significantly from the yields obtained by check and adapted varieties in the state variety trials. From an ecological standpoint, the yields of Turda 2000 (3 years and five locations) ranked between 5,539 and 8,949 kg/ha, with an average of 6,581 kg/ha, which is 3-5 % higher than that of the Fundulea 4 check.
Turda 2000 has shown excellent bread-making quality, reflected in a high protein and gluten content associated with good milling and baking indices. The variety exhibits a high stability for quality parameters. According to standard milling and baking characteristics, Turda 2000 has been classified among the very good quality wheats (A1 quality group).
Breeder seed of Turda 2000 will be maintained by the Agricultural Research Station of Turda.
New strain Turda 18-94 (T. aestivum subsp. vulgare var. lutescens) is a wheat-breeding line developed at ARS Turda. Turda 18-94 was selected from the cross 'ST 17/Turda 81' and is an unreleased cultivar because of its mediocre quality.
Turda 18-94 has shown increased resistance to preharvest sprouting when tested in artificial conditions. Spikes harvested at physiological maturity stage were water-sprayed for 1012 days in a misting cabinet. Sprouting resistance is related with longer dormancy seeds and lower a-amylase activity. The Hagberg falling number is higher for Turda 18-94 (345) compared to that of Fundulea 4 (204), which denotes the low level of a-amylase in Turda 18-94 grains.
Turda 18-94 is a medium-late maturing, awnless, white-glumed, semidwarf wheat. Tested in regional yield trials, Turda 18-94 showed a high-yielding ability, associated with tolerance to Fusarium head blight. The line represents an agronomically improved source of wheat germ plasm.
Turda 18-94 was one of the 64 entries in the 2nd Winter Wheat East-European Regional Yield Trial (199900), prepared and distributed by CIMMYT and Oregon State University.
Wheat genes resistant to rusts and powdery mildew used in controlling the dynamics of virulence in local populations of these pathogens at A.R.S. Turda. [p. 139]
Maria Moldovan, V. Moldovan, and Rozalia Kadar.
The dynamics of virulence in the local population of wheat rust and powdery mildew has been supervised at the A.R.S. Turda, by the means of special disease-screening nurseries since 1974.
Resistance genes and trap varieties from these nurseries have been observed under natural or artificial infection with a mixture of local virulent pathogens on the adult plant stage in the field.
Genes still effective against leaf rust are Lr9, Lr19, Lr24, Lr26, and Lr13, as well as certain sources of adult-plant resistance (Fiorello, Skorospelka, Doina, Turda 195, Transilvania, Lovrin 24, and Turda 81).
Genes effective against yellow rust are Yr1 (Chinese 166), Yr5 (T. spelta album), Yr15 (T. dicoccoides), Yr11, Yr14, Yr6+Yr7, Yr12, Yr3a, Yr4a, and Almus, as well as the adult-plant resistance sources in the cultivars Transilvania and Turda 95.
The genes that maintained their efficiency for powdery mildew resistance are Pm5 (CI 14125), Pm6 (T. timopheevi), Pm5 + Pm (NK 983), along with a series of adult plant resistance sources (Transilvania, Turda 95, Flamura 85, Fundulea 4, and other lines from Fundulea).
Rozalia Kadar, V. Moldovan, and Maria Moldovan.
The genetic progress achieved in developing winter wheat varieties can be evaluated from the bread-making quality traits and this criterion has been used to select breeding material from different generations in the wheat-breeding program at the A.R.S. Turda.
Many breeding constraints are involved in achieving a substantial genetic progress for quality in wheat. Bread-making quality in wheat depends on protein content and composition. Therefore, the main breeding barrier is the negative correlation between grain yield and protein content. Our research, on the basis of regression analyses has shown that only a small part of protein variation can be explained by variation in yield, which provides solid evidence that simultaneous progress in breeding for elevated protein and grain yield is possible. Wheats that have the largest positive deviation in their protein values from those predicted by the regression equation are the most likely sources of genes for high protein content.
Another important breeding constraint consists of the great influence of the environment on the typical expression of quality parameters. We studied the 'genotype x environment' interaction involved in bread-making quality and found that the heritability coefficients were small for protein content, but large for sedimentation index, gluten content, deformation index, and loaf volume. Stability parameters for quality also are important in the performance of winter wheat varieties.
The breeding success in development of high-quality wheat varieties is strongly dependent on the wheat genetic resources used in hybrid combination. Genotypes with high bread-making quality have been identified in both local and foreign wheat germ plasm. Utilizing these lines as parents for crosses, we have achieved a new level of quality in agronomically improved wheats in the last 10 years and have released three winter wheat varieties (Apullum, Turda 95, and Turda 2000). These varieties are important for the wheat crop in the central and north regions of Romania. Our current research at A.R.S. Turda seeks to further accumulate known genes for quality and transfer them into agronomically superior and highly productive winter wheats. The variety Turda 2000 is an excellent example that combines elevated quality with high productivity from its parents (Apullum/Ariesan).