Evaluation of Inheritance Pattern of Fresh Seed Dormancy in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Cross Combinations
Sanjeev Sharma
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
R.S. Sikarwar
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
Pallavi Sonaniya
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
Riya Mishra
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
Kumar Sanu
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
Sachin Shukla
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
Dhuruv Dangi
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
Arpit Choubey
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
Shailja Chauhan
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
Shruti Paliwal
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
Garima Mishra
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
Ankit Pandy
KNK-College of Horticulture, Mandsaur 458001, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Agricultural University, Gwalior, M.P., India.
M. K. Tripathi *
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (474002), India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Pre-harvest sprouting is a significant problem in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), especially in the subspecies fastigiata, leading to considerable losses in seed yield and quality. A short period of fresh seed dormancy is considered beneficial in reducing such losses. The present study investigated the inheritance of fresh seed dormancy by introgressing this trait from highly dormant parental lines viz., KDG–128, GPBD–4 and DGRMB–32 into crosses with moderately dormant lines i.e., TG–86, NITYA HARITA and SUNOLEIC-95R. Six parental genotypes including three males and three females were used to develop F₁, F₂, BC₁ and BC₂ generations through artificial hybridization, resulting in 38 genotypes/crosses. These were evaluated in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications for germination percentage, duration and intensity of dormancy. In the F₁ generation, most of the crosses exhibited reduced dormancy compared to their highly dormant parents, indicating the predominance of non-dormancy creating alleles. For instance, DGRMB-32 × GPBD-4 (F₁) showed 80% germination with 20% dormancy intensity. F₂ populations displayed segregation for dormancy-inducing traits, with some crosses, such as TG-86 × GPBD-4 (F₂), exhibiting higher germination than their F₁ counterparts, suggesting the involvement of multiple genes and transgressive segregants. Backcross populations showed dormancy levels depending on the recurrent parent. Backcrosses with dormant parents e.g., (TG-86 × GPBD-4) × GPBD-4 displayed complete or very high magnitude of dormancy (100%), whereas backcrosses made with moderately dormant parents viz., (NITYA HARITA × SUNOLEIC-95R) × SUNOLEIC-95R, exhibited a higher germination rate (80%). These results highlight the critical influence of parental genotype on dormancy expression and demonstrate the potential to develop groundnut cultivars with tailored levels of fresh seed dormancy. The findings are valuable for breeding programmes aiming to minimize pre-harvest sprouting, improve seed quality and ensure uniform crop establishment, thereby enhancing productivity and profitability in groundnut cultivation.
Keywords: Groundnut, fresh seed dormancy, transgressive segregants, backcrosses, pre-harvest sprouting