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Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (14): 7-15.doi: 10.11924/j.issn.1000-6850.casb2025-1024

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Research and Utilization of Simple and Efficient Selection Indicators for Wheat Quality Breeding

LI Man(), JIANG Wei, WANG Hui, SHOU Lulu, ZHANG Xiao()   

  1. Lixiahe Institute of Agricultural Sciences of Jiangsu/ Key Laboratory of Wheat Biology and Genetic Improvement for Low & Middle Yangtze Valley, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225007
  • Received:2025-12-23 Revised:2026-05-06 Online:2026-07-25 Published:2026-07-24

Abstract:

To identify percentage of vitreous kernels (PVK) as a selection indicator for wheat quality breeding, grain quality traits of 160 medium-strong and weak gluten wheat lines bred by the Lixiahe Regional Agricultural Research Institute in Jiangsu were analyzed under fertilized and unfertilized conditions. The results showed that genotype, fertilizer treatment, and year significantly affected the PVK, with genotype contributing 62.07% of the total effect-higher than fertilizer and year effects. The coefficient of variation for the PVK was 64.48%, exceeding that of protein content and hardness index (HI). Additionally, the PVK showed a highly significant correlation with protein content and hardness, with a correlation coefficient of 0.80 for the HI. And the PVK demonstrated a highly significant correlation with the selected variety quality indicators, indicating its potential for comprehensive evaluation of varieties. Based on these two selection criteria (PVK and HI), 62 strong gluten lines (e.g., ‘Yang 14-88’, ‘Yang 18P8’, ‘Yang 18P26’) with consistently high vitreousness and 14 weak gluten lines (e.g., ‘Yang 14-7’, ‘Yang 14-214’, ‘Yang 18P76’) with stable floury characteristics were identified. In short, the PVK is a key grain quality trait predominantly controlled by genotype. It exhibits substantial variation, enabling the differentiation of quality among various lines, and shows significant correlation with comprehensive evaluation metrics. Therefore, it can be used as a simple and efficient indicator for assessing wheat quality. Moreover, high-quality materials selected based on this trait hold significant value for both research and breeding purposes.

Key words: wheat, percentage of vitreous kernels (PVK), hardness index (HI), quality

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