Segregation Ratios of Colored Grains in Crossed Wheat

Colored-grain wheat is one kind of new germplasm resource in cereal crops, some of which are rich in beneficial anthocyanins. The genetics of wheat with blue and white grains or those with purple and white grains have been investigated. However, as far as we know, the genetics of wheat with purple and blue grains has not been reported. We bred new lines of colored-grain wheat by crossing einkorn wheat (Triticum boeoticum, AA) and French rye (French Secale cereale, RR) as male parents (mixed pollination) with a high-quality bread wheat line Y1642 (derived from common wheat and Agropyron elongatum, AABBDD) as the female parent. We selected colored-grain wheat lines in the F6 generation that exhibited different colored grains in the same spike to study the genetic patterns of colored-grain wheat. In addition to normal grain color segregation ratios, we found some unconventional segregation ratios such as 1:37 (blue to white). Furthermore, we found blue and purple grains in the same spike of blue-grain or purple-grain wheat lines. For blue wheat grain the color is due to the blue aleurone layer. The coloration of a purple wheat grain is located in the pericarp and testa. This unique phenomena may be due to the influences of environmental factors as well as genetic factors. Besides, the colored-grain wheat lines used in this work may be genetically unstable. Some unique segregation ratios are also observed in the genetic segregation of grain color. The results will be useful for genetics and breeding in colored-grain wheat.