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This study was conducted to evaluate the combining ability of newly acquired maize inbred lines over the environments. Twenty-eight crosses developed by crossing eight elite inbreds in a half-diallel mating design were evaluated during kharif, 2019 for 12 agro-morphological traits in RBD with two replications at two different environments reflecting diverse agro-climatic and ecological conditions of North-Western Himalayas (SAREC, Kangra and HAREC, Bajaura). Analysis of variance showed that there was sufficient amount of genetic variability in the material studied. In accordance to Bartlett’s test, error variance was homogeneous only for six traits. Estimates of σ2SCA were higher as compared to σ2GCA both within and across environments for all the traits, except days to 75 per cent brown husk at Kangra, representing prevalence of non-additive gene action for these traits. The inbred line B73 at Bajaura, and LM14 at Kangra were found to be good general combiner for most traits. The inbreds with good GCA can be used as potential parents for the development of high yielding single cross maize hybrids. The hybrid combinations namely, B73 × BAJIM1811 and BAJIM1522 × BAJIM1811 were identified as potentially superior ones at Kangra and Bajaura environments. The identified promising hybrids need further assessment for their superiority in performance across the locations and over years.

The current breeding effort aims to develop new wheat genotypes with higher genetic potential, thereby contributing to food security. Ten wheat genotypes were crossed in a half-diallel mating design. The F1 progeny from the 45 crosses, along with their ten parents, were evaluated in a randomized block design to estimate combining ability and the nature of gene action. Analysis of variance for combining ability revealed significant mean squares for both general and specific combining abilities across all studied traits. This indicates the importance of both additive and non-additive gene effects in the inheritance of these traits. The GCA/SCA ratio suggested the predominance of non-additive genetic action for all studied traits. Only five parents (HD3086, UP 2748, WH 1105, UP 2565, and HD 2967) exhibited good general combining ability for yield and associated traits. However, but none of them were found good combiners for all traits. Twenty-one crosses exhibited significant specific combining ability for yield and associated traits. The crosses UP 2748 x HD 3059, UP2565 x HD3086, WH 1105 x UP 2526, WH 1105 x WH 1021, and HD 2967 x WH 1021 were identified as good specific combiners for higher grain yield and associated traits. Utilizing these crosses in breeding programs that exploit heterosis can lead to the creation of new wheat genotypes with a broader genetic base. This approach, which involves crossing high-performing parents for some traits with low-performing parents for others, has the potential to produce offspring with superior characteristics in the next generation due to interactions between dominant genes.

Geraniums (Pelargonium spp.) are ornamental plants that are widely popular because of their abundant flowering, color variability, different flower patterns, and ease of cultivation. Genetic breeding of this species aims to reduce the plant size and flower color. The objective of this study was to carry out morphoagronomic characterization of parents and F1 hybrids and to estimate the combined capacity and hybrid performance in the circulating diallel in F2 geranium (Pelargonium sp.). We obtained 18 and 275 plants from the F1 and F2 generations, respectively. Characterization of the parental genotypes and F1 and F2 hybrids was performed based on the descriptors for Pelargonium. Parents and F1 hybrids were grouped using the Tocher and UPGMA methods and diallel analyses in the F2 generation. The F1 hybrids G8, G11, and G17 exhibited color combinations suitable for commercialization and are promising for inclusion in breeding programs. The effects of general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) were significant for these traits were also significant. The results showed the presence of both additive and non-additive genes. However, non-additive and dominant genes were predominant in most characteristics studied. Diallel analysis of the F2 hybrids revealed that the best hybrid combinations for reducing plant height were 14 × 11, 14 × 13, and 15 × 12. Therefore, the implementation and use of diallel analysis were efficient in selecting superior parental genotypes and producing hybrids with high yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining ability assessment helps select parents and hybrids with high performance, which can lead to increased yield and effective crop improvement. The present study aimed to evaluate 24 diverse crosses for ten different quantitative traits using line x tester mating in the kharif season. The experiment involved the assessment of crosses, which included 4 females, 6 males, and 1 commercial cultivar (Nishant). The evaluation employed a randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. Major discrepancies were observed in the genotypes of both parents and hybrids for all traits, indicating a significant amount of variation in fruit yield and other characteristics that contribute to yield. JBR-20-05 was found the best general combiner for days to 50% flowering, fruit length and plant height. JBR-20-04 was found to be the best general combiner for average fruit weight, fruit girth and total fruit yield per plant. The genotype identified in the JBR-20-07 study, resistant to fruit and shoot borer infestation, held significant potential for use in breeding and selection programs to enhance the resistance of brinjal varieties. Estimation of Specific combining ability effect revealed that among the hybrids, the hybrids JBR-20-04 x JBR-20-05 recorded highly significant specific combining ability (SCA) effects for total fruit yield per plant. The cross JBR-20-03 x JBR-20-05 showed high desirable significance to SCA for fruit and shoot borer infestation. Variance due to general combining ability was less than the variance due to SCA, and the ratio of GCA to SCA variance was less than unity. When choosing hybrids to enhance yield in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) through breeding, it is crucial to prioritize specific traits that directly contribute to increased production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most important step in plant breeding is the correct selection of parents, and it would be wise to use heterotic groups for this. The purpose of this study is to analyse yield and its components as well as genetic diversity in line × tester wheat populations. It also seeks to present a coherent framework for the isolation of early superior families and the development of heterotic groups in bread wheat. F1 and F2 generations of 51 genotypes, including 36 combinations between 12 lines and three testers and 15 parents, were evaluated for yield and its components in a three-replication experiment according to the randomized block design. Line × tester analysis of variance, general and specific combining abilities, heterosis, heterobeltiosis and inbreeding depression were calculated. Heterotic groups created based on general and specific combining abilities were compared with each other. The results showed that there was sufficient genetic variation in the population and that further genetic calculations could be made. The selections made based on general and specific combining abilities, heterosis values and average performance of genotypes without heterotic grouping indicated different genotypes for each feature. The creation of heterotic groups made it possible to select genotypes that were superior in terms of all the criteria listed. It was concluded that heterotic groups created based on specific combining abilities may be more useful for breeding studies.

In this article we compared two approaches: one is Griffing approach for numerical components and other is Hyman's approach for graphical representation of the components through the mating design of Complete Diallel Cross design for p=5 parental lines. Griffing (1956) approach was a numerical approach based on the estimates of combining ability effects. Here use his fourth method. Hayman (1954) approach also have four components namely (i) complete, (ii) partial, (iii) over-dominance and (iv) no dominance. Hayman's approach based on the estimation of parts of variation. We use three mutually orthogonal Latin squares design of order 5 for the construction of mating designs. ANOVA and estimates of combining ability derived and analyzed. We demonstrate the numerical accuracy of the proposed design Griffing method I and Hayman's method by using Turnip data of 5x5 crosses of plant height. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Low diversity and poor genetic basis of germplasm in temperate regions is a significant challenge in maize breeding. Maize germplasms from tropical and subtropical regions often contain a broader genetic base and show larger diversity than germplasms from temperate regions. Therefore, it seems that foreign germplasms, especially germplasms from tropical and subtropical regions, can be used as a potential solution to strengthen the genetic base of germplasm in temperate regions. However, the efficiency of screening methods to identify superior and suitable sources of foreign germplasm remains a major challenge. The objective of this study was to determine the optimum number of testers and select suitable testers for screening maize lines derived from tropical and subtropical CIMMYT germplasm. Materials and methods In this experiment, three testers of temperate regions (MO17, B73, K1264/5-1) were crossed with 25 lines originated from the CIMMYT maize germplasm based on line×tester mating system. A total of 75 crosses along with the control hybrid (SC704) were evaluated in alpha-lattice experimental design in two replications each with four incomplete blocks in two regions (Moghan and Jiroft). Analysis of variance was done based on line×tester method, as well as separation of the effect of crosses into its components using the method suggested by Kemptorn (1957). GGE-biplot graphical analysis based on the methodology proposed by Fan et al. (2010) was also used to estimate the effects of general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA). Research findings The results showed that out of the 75 crosses, 32 crosses had higher and significant grain yield compared to the control hybrid SC704. The superiority of the superior cross compared to the control hybrid ranged from 1.46 to 3.77 tons per hectare. These findings highlighted the potential of utilizing tropical and subtropical CIMMYT germplasm to enhance maize yield in temperate regions of Iran. Based on the results, the lines No. 22, 9, 19, 12, 20, 5, 17, 21, 24, 14, 15, 23, and 11 had the highest positive GCA for grain yield, respectively. In general, in terms of grain yield, GCA, and SCA, it is possible to directly use lines No. 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 19, 22, and 24 extracted from tropical and subtropical CIMMYT germplasm to improve grain yield in temperate regions. Evaluating the efficiency of the temperate maize testers also showed that two testers B73 and MO17 were highly efficient in selecting superior line derived from tropical and subtropical CIMMYT germplasm. Conclusion The results of the current study showed that it is possible to use maize germplasms from tropical and subtropical regions of CYMMIT to improve grain yield in temperate regions. Also, one temperate maize tester has the ability to distinguish superior sources (not all of them), although the use of two testers greatly reduces the risk of not choosing (deleion) a superior source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study twenty-eight hybrid combinations resulting from the halfdiallel mating of eight quality protein maize (QPM) inbred lines were chosen in order to examine the potential to combine and gene activity for ten yield and component attributes. As part of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on maize during the kharif-2020 season, the experiment was done at the research farm of college of Agriculture, Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT) Bhubaneswar, using a randomized complete block design replicated thrice. Every observation recorded was subjected to statistical evaluation and it was revealed that the mean squares derived from the general combining ability (gca) and specific combining ability (sca) were highly significant (p ≥0.01). Estimates of sca effects were greater than that of gca effects for all of the variables used in the study, suggesting to the predominance of dominant gene action. The inbred lines Q4-DQL 2221-1-1(833.792), Q2-DQL 2099 (517.658) and Q3- DQL 2159 (350.325) shows high gca effects for yield and its attributing traits due to more additive gene action thus identified as good general combiners for yield. Twelve of the twenty-eight crosses showed significant (p ≥0.01 and 0.05) positive sca effect on grain yield. The best experimental crosses for grain yield based on per se performance and sca effects were Q2 x Q8 (2106.748), Q1 x Q6 (2053.048), Q3 x Q7 (2027.082), and Q3 x Q6 (1719.884). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments were conducted. One in the open field during the spring season 2021, in which crosses- and Reciprocal-Crosses (full diallel crossing) were conducted between five selected okra varieties and the other was a comparative experiment in the heated plastic green-house of the Department of Horticulture and Gardening Engineering, College of Agriculture, University of Tikrit, Iraq for the winter season 2022. The results showed that the differences between the parental genotypes and their reciprocal and Reciprocal-Crosses led to the emergence of hybrid vigour and in the desired direction in the results of a number of crosses, where the special values for the hybrid’s strength were calculated based on the average of the best (shortest) father H (BP), as the hybrid’s strength was characterised as in the plastic greenhouse, the hybrid (P5xP4) had a significant negative value, while 19 hybrids had undesirable positive values. In the open field, 11 hybrids had negative and significant hybrid strength, 2 had non-significant negative values and 7 had undesirable positive values. The results also showed that the effects of the general ability of compatibility for the first generation in the plastic green-house were high for the genotype P4, where the effects of GCA were significant and negative, as well as the parental styles recorded high and negative values, respectively, P3 and P2, while the effects of the P5 models and P1 were highly significant and positive, and the effects of the genera were positive. The results also showed that the effects of the specific combining ability varied in terms of genetic values of hybrids between the plastic green-house and the open field. The hybrids P3xP1, P4xP5, P4xP2, P1xP2, P3xP2 and P5xP3 had the highest negatively significant values for the effects of the special ability of compatibility in the greenhouse, while the hybrids P1xP2, P5xP3, P4xP3 and P1xP5 had the highest negative significant values in the open field. Percentage exceeded the average vigour of the hybrids for the characteristic of the number of okra branches in the open field compared to the plastic green-house, where 9 hybrids recorded negative and significant hybrid strength, with (P1xP5) having the highest value -40.994 and (P3x P2) the lowest. It had 12 leaf models. A negative and significant hybrid, where (P2xP5) had the highest value and (P5xP4) the lowest, 3 hybrids had non-significant negative values and 5 had undesirable positive values. In the plastic greenhouse, 10 hybrids had high and negative significant values, including P2xP45. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study twenty-eight hybrid combinations resulting from the half-diallel mating of eight quality protein maize (QPM) inbred lines were chosen in order to examine the potential to combine and gene activity for ten yield and component attributes. As part of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on maize during the kharif-2020 season, the experiment was done at the research farm of college of Agriculture, Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT) Bhubaneswar, using a randomized complete block design replicated thrice. Every observation recorded was subjected to statistical evaluation and it was revealed that the mean squares derived from the general combining ability (gca) and specific combining ability (sca) were highly significant (p ≥0.01). Estimates of sca effects were greater than that of gca effects for all of the variables used in the study, suggesting to the predominance of dominant gene action. The inbred lines Q4-DQL 2221-1-1(833.792), Q2-DQL 2099 (517.658) and Q3- DQL 2159 (350.325) shows high gca effects for yield and its attributing traits due to more additive gene action thus identified as good general combiners for yield. Twelve of the twenty-eight crosses showed significant (p ≥0.01 and 0.05) positive sca effect on grain yield. The best experimental crosses for grain yield based on per se performance and sca effects were Q2 x Q8 (2106.748), Q1 x Q6 (2053.048), Q3 x Q7 (2027.082), and Q3 x Q6 (1719.884).

Yield gains in crop plants, such as citron watermelon can be realised through combining ability tests and hybrid breeding. The objective of the study was to determine the combining ability and hybrid performance of citron watermelon genotypes for agronomic traits. Five contrasting and relatively high-yielding citron watermelon genotypes were crossed in a 5 × 5 half-diallel mating design and 10 F1 hybrids were developed. The 15 families (five parents and 10 F1 hybrids) were evaluated across two environments using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Data was collected on various agronomic traits and subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and combining ability analysis. Significant (P < 0.001) genotype × environment interaction effects were observed for most assessed traits. General combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects were significant (P < 0.001) for most traits. Environment × GCA was non-significant, whereas Environment × SCA effects were significant (P < 0.001) for most traits. The ratios of GCA/SCA variances were less than unity for most traits, indicating non-additive gene action of the traits. Broad-sense heritability varied from low to moderate, implying variable selection response of the assessed traits among the F1 hybrids. The parental genotypes WWM16 with positive GCA effects for fruit and seed yields and WWM66, with positive GCA effects for the number of seeds per fruit and seed yield, were identified for hybrid breeding. The following F1 hybrids: WWM04 × WWM16, WWWM03 × WWM66 and WWM16 × WWM50 with positive SCA effects on total fruit yield per plant and marketable fruit yield per plant, and WWM04 × WWM50, WWM03 × WWM16 and WWM03 × WWM66 with positive SCA effects for number of seeds per fruit and total seed yield were identified. The study identified novel and best-performing F1 hybrids of citron watermelon for economic traits and are recommended for multi-environmental evaluations, variety registration and commercialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ecosistemas y Recursos Agropecuarios is the property of Universidad Juarez Autonoma de Tabasco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Globally, cotton yield and lint quality improvement especially through selection of promising genotypes continue to remain a pressing task for the sustainability of lint supplies to the textile industry. To achieve these goals, the use of diallel analysis is of prime pertinence in plant breeding to identify and screen out the elite genetic combinations and stable fidelity in subsequent generations. An experiment was carried out to study combining ability of the parental genotypes and their half-diallel hybrids for yield component, seed yield and fiber quality traits. The results showed highly significant differences among tested genotypes, indicating remarkably high genetic variability for all the studied traits. The ratio of δ²GCA/δ²SCA > 1 for all traits under study exhibited the preponderance of additive gene action for inheritance of all traits under investigation. The results indicated that selection could be significantly responsive and performed in early segregating generation. Additionally, parents, Coker 139, Aleppo 90 and NIAB 414 were superior general combiner for yield and fiber quality traits. Likewise, hybrids especially Millinium x Aleppo 124, Aleppo 124 x NIAB Kiran and Aleppo 118 x NIAB Kiran showed unmatched response variables. Thus based on these recorded findings, these hybrids can be exploited in future's breeding programs for boosting cotton yield and fiber quality through development of new promising varieties of cotton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testcross factorials in newly established hybrid breeding programs are often highly unbalanced, incomplete, and characterized by predominance of special combining ability (SCA) over general combining ability (GCA). This results in a low efficiency of GCA-based selection. Machine learning algorithms might improve prediction of hybrid performance in such testcross factorials, as they have been successfully applied to find complex underlying patterns in sparse data. Our objective was to compare the prediction accuracy of machine learning algorithms to that of GCA-based prediction and genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) in six unbalanced incomplete factorials from hybrid breeding programs of rapeseed, wheat, and corn. We investigated a range of machine learning algorithms with three different types of predictor variables: (a) information on parentage of hybrids, (b) in addition hybrid performance of crosses of the parental lines with other crossing partners, and (c) genotypic marker data. In two highly incomplete and unbalanced factorials from rapeseed, in which the SCA variance contributed considerably to the genetic variance, stacked ensembles of gradient boosting machines based on parentage information outperformed GCA prediction. The stacked ensembles increased prediction accuracy from 0.39 to 0.45, and from 0.48 to 0.54 compared to GCA prediction. The prediction accuracy reached by stacked ensembles without marker data reached values comparable to those of GBLUP that requires marker data. We conclude that hybrid prediction with stacked ensembles of gradient boosting machines based on parentage information is a promising approach that is worth further investigations with other data sets in which SCA variance is high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.] is cultivated for multiple utilities, including as a leafy vegetable, for fresh and dried fruits and seeds. It is an under-researched and -utilized crop, and modern varieties are yet to be developed and deployed in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There is a dire need for pre-breeding and breeding of bottle gourds for commercialization in SSA. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the combining ability and heterosis among selected genotypes of bottle gourd for fruit yield and related traits under drought-stressed and non-stressed conditions to select the best parents and hybrids. Eight preliminarily selected and contrasting parents with drought tolerance were crossed using a half-diallel mating design. The 8 parents and 28 crosses were evaluated under non-stressed (NS) and drought-stressed (DS) conditions across two growing seasons (2020/21 and 2021/22) using a 6 × 6 alpha lattice design with three replicates. Data were collected on fruit yield and related traits and subjected to analysis of variance, combining ability and heterosis analyses. Significant (p < 0.05) specific combining ability (SCA) and general combining ability (GCA) effects were computed for fruit yield per plant (FYPP). The SCA × environment and GCA × environment interaction effects were highly significant (p < 0.001) for FYPP and SYPP. The results suggest that genetic effects were affected by the test environment. Parental genotypes BG-58 and GC recorded positive and significant GCA effects for FYPP under the DS condition, whereas GC recorded positive and significant GCA effects for FYPP under the NS condition. The two genotypes are ideal breeding parents for population development to select genotypes with high fruit and seed yields. Crosses BG-27 × BG-79, BG-79 × BG-52, BG-79 × BG-70, BG-80 × BG-70, BG-80 × GC, and BG-70 × GC recorded high and positive SCA effects for FYPP and SYPP under DS condition. Crosses BG-81 × BG-52, BG-81 × GC, BG-27 × BG-79, BG-27 × GC, BG-79 × GC, BG-80 × BG-70, BG-81 × BG-58, BG-27 × BG-80, BG-27 × BG-58, BG-79 × BG-52, BG-52 × BG-58, BG-80 × BG-58, and BG-58 × BG-70 recorded high and positive SCA effects for FYPP and SYPP under NS condition. Crosses BG-80 × BG-58, BG-27 × BG-79, BG-79 × BG-52, BG-27 × BG-52, and BG-52 × BG-80 showed high and positive mid- and better-parent heterosis under DS condition for FYPP and SYPP. Crosses BG-27 × GC, BG-79 × GC, BG-27 × BG-58, and BG-27 × BG-79 showed high and positive mid- and better parent heterosis under NS condition for FYPP and SYPP. The newly selected families are recommended for multi-environment evaluation forrelease and commercialization in South Africa or similar agroecologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three field experiments were carried out during 2022 summer season at three diverse locations of Gemmeiza, Sakha and Mallawy Experimental Stations of Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Egypt. Thirty crosses (ten inbred lines crossed with three testers inbred line Sd. 7, Sk. 5 and SC 130) and four standard checks SC 10, SC 2031, TWC 321 and TWC 324 were evaluated for yield and yield related traits to evaluate using line × tester mating design. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among genotypes for most traits indicating existence of variability among genotypes. Results showed that maternal parents play the most important role. The general combining ability effect showed that Gm. 1031, Gm.62 and Sk.5 are good combiners for earliest, shortened and lower ear placement. Four inbred lines (Gm. 267, Gm. 50, Gm.66 and Gm. 64) and testers Sk.5 were good general combiner for grain yield. The crosses (Gm. 62×Sc. 130), (Gm. 66× Sk.5) and (Gm. 64×sd. 7) had significant values of SCA for plant and ear height and the cross (Gm. 52 × SC. 130) had significant values of SCA for grain yield. Most of all crosses had better performance than check varieties for earliness, short plant and lower ear placement. The two crosses (Gm. 64×Sk.5) and (Gm. 64×SC. 130) were better than all check varieties for grain yield. For grain yield, the cross (Gm. 66×Sd. 7) had a significant superiority percentage over check (SC 2031) while the two crosses (Gm. 52×SC. 130) and (Gm. 64 × SC.130) had significant superiority percentages over checks (TWC321 and TWC324). Therefore, Identify superior crosses to improve the yielding ability in maize breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was conducted to develop tomato hybrids by identifying parental lines with estimation of good combining ability effects and their variances through line x tester analysis of 44 genotypes including 32 F1 cross combinations using 12 parents after selfing (8 lines and 4 testers). The genotypes were evaluated for the yield and contributing traits. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed highly significant difference for all the characters suggesting the presence of genetic variability among the studied materials. The variance values of general combining ability (GCA) were lower than the specific combining ability (SCA) for all the traits except plant height. This indicates that these traits were under the control of non-additive (non-fixable) gene effects and could be exploited by heterosis breeding. The lines L1, L2, L3, L5, and testers T2, and T4 showed a desirable significant negative GCA effect for days to first flowering and days to maturity. The line L5 showed a positive significant GCA effect for most of the traits except fruit per cluster and L4 for plant height, cluster per plant, fruit per cluster, fruit per plant, fruit diameter, and yield per plant. Based on GCA effects across ten traits L4 and L5 were identified as the most promising parental lines for inclusion in hybridization programs. Outstanding crosses based on SCA effects across ten traits were L6XT1, L2XT3, L7XT2, and L4XT4. These crosses could be considered the most promising specific combiner for most traits which can be used to develop elite tomato varieties.

Abstract To generate high-yielding cultivars with favorable fiber quality traits, cotton breeders can use information about combining ability and gene activity within a population to locate elite parents and potential F1 crosses. To this end, in the current study, twelve cotton parents (eight genotypes as female parents and four testers) and their F1 crosses obtained utilizing the linex tester mating design were evaluated for their general and specialized combining abilities (GCA and SCA, respectively) of yield traits. The findings showed that for all the investigated variables, variances owing to genotypes, parents, crosses, and parent vs cross showed extremely significant (P ≤ 0.01) differences. Additionally, throughout the course of two growing seasons, the mean squares for genotypes (parents and crosses) showed strong significance for all the variables under study. The greatest and most desired means for all the examined qualities were in the parent G.94, Pima S6, and tester G.86. The best crossings for the qualities examined were G.86 (G.89 × G.86), G.93 × Suvin, and G.86 × Suvin. The parents' Suvin, G89x G86 and TNB were shown to have the most desired general combining ability effects for seed cotton yield/plant, lint yield/plant, boll weight, number of bolls/plants, and lint index, while Suvin, G.96 and pima S6 were preferred for favored lint percentage. For seed cotton yield, lint percentage, boll weight, and number of bolls per plant per year, the cross-G.86 x (G.89 × G.86) displayed highly significant specific combining ability impacts. The crosses G.86 × Suvin, Kar x TNB, G.93 × Suvin, and G.93 × TNB for all the studied traits for each year and their combined were found to have highly significant positive heterotic effects relative to better parent, and they could be used in future cotton breeding programs for improving the studied traits.

Copyright of Egyptian Journal of Agronomy is the property of Egyptian National Agricultural Library (ENAL) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim was to study the genetic control of the agronomic efficiency at low N availability in maize. Experiments were conducted in seven environments in a square lattice design with 49 hybrids, consisting of 48 crosses and one commercial hybrid, evaluated with and without application of N in top dressing. Grain yields with (GYHN) and without (GYLN) application of nitrogen in top dressing were assessed, and these traits were used to calculate the agronomic efficiency at low N availability (AELN) and the harmonic mean of the relative performance (HMRP). According to the joint analysis of variance of the diallel crosses and the estimates of the general and specific combining abilities, these traits were highly significant. Note that in general AELN was controlled by non-additive genetic effects and the hybrids H7, H3, H47 and H10 and the lines IG3-2, IG3-1, IG4-5, IG4-1 and IG4-6 show higher grain yield without top dressing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ranunculus is a well-known flower having a great economic value for its bright colors and vibrant patterns. Given the importance of the ranunculus cut flower, conducting this study elucidated the genetic behavior and variability of various morphological attributes in ranunculus genotypes. Assessment of six ranunculus genotypes measured germination percentage (%), days to emergence, days to maturity, stem length, stem thickness, flowers per plant, flower size, and flower duration on the plant. Analysis of variance depicted significant variation in all the studied traits except days to emergence, number of stems, and germination percentage. Clustering ranunculus genotype with the Euclidean distances-based hierarchical clustering resulted in two clusters of the genotype. One genotype (red) did not join any group, indicating an early separation of this genotype during the evolution of Ranunculus species. Correlation analysis showed that most studied traits negatively correlated, with only a few positively correlating traits. The number of flowers per plant and stem length showed a d positive correlation (0.7437 and 0.8064, respectively). Overall, the results showed that the red, yellow, and rose genotypes are the best performers for cultivation to produce betterquality flowers. Genetic analysis using line × tester analysis revealed higher values for the SCA component than GCA, suggesting non-additive gene action for most traits under study. Moreover, the hybrids developed in the current study developed new color combinations/shades. These hybrids could further benefit ranunculus stable variant improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early maturity and genotype by environment interaction (GEI) have always been challenging concerns for breeders in selecting appropriate parents for breeding programs. The presented study aimed to investigate early maturity and the dimension of gene action, as well as, assess the performance of half-diallel populations using eight advanced sweet corn inbred lines and their 28 F1 hybrids with two commercial checks for maturity and yield-related traits in the spring of 2018 at the Nowshera (plain) and Swat (hilly) areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Analysis revealed significant differences among the genotypes for the studied traits over both locations. General combining ability (GCA) effects were significant for all the traits at both the agro-climatic conditions, except 100-kernel weight, with the specific combining ability (SCA) effects relevant for grain yield at both locations. The GCA-SCA ratio for studied traits indicated dominance gene action, which also gained support by higher values of SCA than GCA variances. Based on the results, the identified inbred lines SWTS-1-8 and SODS-1 serve as good general combiners for traits like earliness and grain yield attributes, making them better parents to improve the stated characteristics in sweet corn. However, the F1 hybrids, i.e., NARCCCRI-19 × CCRI-34 at Nowshera and CCRI-34 × SODS-1 at Swat, showed the best specific combiners for maturity. Likewise, F1 hybrids, i.e., SWTS-1-4 × SWTS-1-8 and SWTS-1-8 × CCRIS-34, emerged as desirable for grain yield at Nowshera and Swat, respectively. The inbred lines for the mentioned hybrids can be a source of germplasm improvement, breaking through undesirable linkages in future sweet corn breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selfing and crossing methods were used to develop the cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) lines from 2 elite F1 hybrids of CMS hot chilies. The pungency of the CMS lines was improved by backcrossing with the B cultivar. The first and second backcrossed progenies of the CMS lines showed significantly higher capsaicin contents than the F1 hybrids. One good female line K16 × BBC2 (K16), was selected and backcrossed with 3 good maintainer cultivars, C5, C9 and C0. Some incomplete male sterility of pollens was demonstrated in the F1 hybrids and the 1st backcrossed progenies while the partial sterility disappeared by the stage of the second and third generations of backcrossing. When K16 and P32 were crossed with restorers, fruit yields and yield components of certain F1 hybrids, parental lines and commercial varieties were significantly different. Heterosis of yield and yield components of the F1 hybrid chilies was significant. When K16 was used as a female parent, positive and significant heterosis of the F1 hybrids was the same as P32. Moreover, significant GCA of the restorer lines, C7, C8 and C9, was observed in some horticultural characteristics. Furthermore, significant differences of the specific combining ability of some characteristics were observed in a few F1 hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testcross factorials in newly established hybrid breeding programs are often highly unbalanced, incomplete, and characterized by predominance of special combining ability (SCA) over general combining ability (GCA). This results in a low efficiency of GCA-based selection. Machine learning algorithms might improve prediction of hybrid performance in such testcross factorials, as they have been successfully applied to find complex underlying patterns in sparse data. Our objective was to compare the prediction accuracy of machine learning algorithms to that of GCA-based prediction and genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) in six unbalanced incomplete factorials from hybrid breeding programs of rapeseed, wheat, and corn. We investigated a range of machine learning algorithms with three different types of predictor variables: (a) information on parentage of hybrids, (b) in addition hybrid performance of crosses of the parental lines with other crossing partners, and (c) genotypic marker data. In two highly incomplete and unbalanced factorials from rapeseed, in which the SCA variance contributed considerably to the genetic variance, stacked ensembles of gradient boosting machines based on parentage information outperformed GCA prediction. The stacked ensembles increased prediction accuracy from 0.39 to 0.45, and from 0.48 to 0.54 compared to GCA prediction. The prediction accuracy reached by stacked ensembles without marker data reached values comparable to those of GBLUP that requires marker data. We conclude that hybrid prediction with stacked ensembles of gradient boosting machines based on parentage information is a promising approach that is worth further investigations with other data sets in which SCA variance is high.

Combining ability analysis discriminates the parents and crosses, provides information about the breeding method to be adopted for genetic improvement of a specific character. Thirty hybrids obtained by mating two females with fifteen males in L × T fashion were evaluated in RBD along with parents to estimate the combining ability of parents and crosses for seed yield and yield contributing traits. The parents and hybrids significantly differed amongst themselves for different characters, viz., days to maturity, 100 seeds weight, capsules per plant, branches per plant, seed yield, seed volume weight and oil content. Among the males, GMU-590, GMU-2273, GMU-2830 and GMU-589 and the females, AKS CMS-3B had good gca effects for seed yield and some other yield contributing traits. However, GMU- 7573 and GMU-2830 were found best general combiners for the trait oil content. All these selected parents may be utilised in a different breeding programme for genetic enhancement of the trait involved. The hybrids AKS CMS-2A × GMU-1731 and AKS CMS-3A × GMU-7448 were identified as good combinations for seed volume weight and capsules per plant. Whereas the hybrids AKS CMS-3A × GMU-2273 and AKS CMS-2A × GMU-6891 were effective for seed filling percentage and seed yield per plant. Three promising hybrids viz., AKS CMS-3A × GMU-7448, AKS CMS-3A × GMU-2273 and AKS CMS-2A × GMU-6891 were designated as promising hybrids as they had good per se performance and significant sca effects for seed yield per plant and most of its contributing characters which can be utilized for heterosis breeding and release of new hybrids at commercial level after thorough multilocation testing. Further, the hybrids AKS CMS-3A × GMU-7448, AKS CMS-3A × GMU-590 and AKS CMS-3A × AKS-589 involving one or both good general combining parents with non-significant sca effects for many studied characters which may be utilized to isolate desirable segregants in progressive generations for identification and release of new varieties by hybridizing the ‘B’ lines of concerned CMS line with similar males again.

Root system architecture is important for common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) adaptability to diverse environments. Beans employ complex adaptive root mechanisms for coping with multiple stresses in production environments. Understanding genetic control of root traits is central to improvement of common bean for adaptation to marginal environments. The objectives of this study were to (i) determine combining ability of root and agronomic traits and (ii) estimate the heritability and genetic correlation of root and agronomic traits in common bean. Four bean lines with superior root traits were crossed with four locally adapted varieties in a North Carolina II mating scheme to generate 16 crosses. The 16 F1s were selfed and advanced to F2 generation. Eight parents and their F2 progenies were evaluated in an alpha‐Lattice design with two replications. General and specific combing ability mean squares were significant (p ≤.05) for all traits measured. General predictability ratios ranged from.47 to.68 across locations suggesting that both additive and non‐additive gene action modulate root traits and seed yield. Positive and significant (p ≤.05) phenotypic and genetic correlations revealed significant association between root traits and yield. Moderate to high heritability estimates of between.43 and.67 were realized. Such estimates point to possible deployment of a successful selection programme. Genotype AFR398 displayed significant positive GCA effects among its crosses for both root and agronomic traits hence a potential candidate genotype for inclusion in a bean genetic improvement programme for marginal environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality Protein Maize (QPM) varieties are rich in lysine and tryptophan, but suffer reduced grain yield (GY) in West and Central Africa (WCA) due to low soil nitrogen (low-N) and intermittent drought stress (DS). Development of stress-tolerant QPM hybrids will enhance sustainable maize production and improve nutritional health in WCA. Knowledge of combining ability, gene action and heterotic grouping of QPM inbred lines are crucial to successful breeding strategies for the development of superior hybrids with enhanced nutritional values. The objectives of this study were to: (i) determine the combining ability for GY and yield-related traits among 13 newly developed QPM inbred lines, and (ii) assign the QPM inbred lines to distinct heterotic groups based on general combining ability effects of multiple traits under low-N and DS conditions. Seventy-eight single cross hybrids were generated through half-diallel mating of 13 QPM inbred lines and evaluated along with three commercial checks for GY and yield-related traits under the low-N and DS conditions. Significant general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability effects were obtained for GY and yield-related traits. Both additive and non-additive gene effects were involved in the inheritance of GY and other traits under low-N and DS conditions. However, the additive gene effect for GY was twice as large as non-additive gene effect. Three heterotic groups were each delineated under low-N and DS. Inbred lines, CRIZEQ-44 and CRIZEQ-77 belonging to different heterotic groups were identified as testers for the development of superior hybrids for low-N and DS environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nine bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes with different characteristics were crossed in a half-diallel model in two different climatic zones in north and south Egypt (Kafrelsheikh and Toshka) during the two successive winter seasons 2017/18, 2018/19. Genotypes and their F1-hybrids were evaluated under standard irrigation and drought stress conditions, to estimate heterosis of certain crosses for drought tolerance, and to pick out crosses useful in breeding programs for drought tolerance. The findings showed that substantial mean genotypes were found for all traits under various irrigation treatments as well as in the combined study. Means of all studied traits were decreased relative to nonstress environments. Highly significant differences were observed for general and specific combining ability for the studied traits under both irrigation treatments and in the combined analysis. The GCA/SCA ratio ranged from 0.31 in Kafrelsheikh and 0.80 in Toshka for No. of spike plant-1 to 0.10 in Kafrelsheikh and 0.70 in Toshka for grain yield/plant, indicating that non-additive gene effects were more important than additive ones in the inheritance of all studied traits. The best general combiners were P3, P4 and P8 for earliness in both locations and P9 under Toshka conditions for grain yield/plant. The cross combination (P5 × P6) showed strong SCA effects for 1000-grain weight and (P4 × P7) days to heading. If crosses showing a high specific combination capability requires only one good general combiner, such combination will release desirable transgressive segregates providing that the additive genetic system present in a good combination and complementary epistatic effects present in the crosses will function in the same direction in order to minimize undesirable plant characteristics and to maximize the characters of the crosses. Therefore, several of the aforementioned crosses may be of primary importance in breeding programs under drought stress conditions. Thus, it may be suggested to carry on selection for water stress tolerance in Toshka to avoid effects of rain water and shallow water table in Kafrelsheikh zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining ability estimates were studied for kernel yield, its components and morphological traits in nine maize parents and 36 F1 hybrids generated from cross in half diallel mating design. Analysis of variance for combining ability revealed that mean sum of squares due to general combining ability were found significant for all the traits except cob length and cob girth, whereas, the specific combining ability effects were found highly significant for all the characters except cob length, cob girth and anthesis - silking interval. Based on estimates of general combining ability, two parents viz., WNC 40228 (6.17) and WNC 31702 (5.47) were found as good general combiners because they registered significant and positive gca effects. The estimates of sca effects revealed that 13 hybrids were exhibited significant positive sca effects. The top most three hybrids for kernel yield per plant on the basis of specific combining ability effects were Z 485-50 x Z 485-11 (22.77), WNC 40228 x BLD - 105 (20.13) and WNC 40228 x Z 485-11 (17.47). The low ratio (

The two most important activities in maize breeding are the development of inbred lines with high values of general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA), and the identification of hybrids with high yield potentials. Genomic selection (GS) is a promising genomic tool to perform selection on the untested breeding material based on the genomic estimated breeding values estimated from the genomic prediction (GP). In this study, GP analyses were carried out to estimate the performance of hybrids, GCA, and SCA for grain yield (GY) in three maize line-by-tester trials, where all the material was phenotyped in 10 to 11 multiple-location trials and genotyped with a mid-density molecular marker platform. Results showed that the prediction abilities for the performance of hybrids ranged from 0.59 to 0.81 across all trials in the model including the additive effect of lines and testers. In the model including both additive and non-additive effects, the prediction abilities for the performance of hybrids were improved and ranged from 0.64 to 0.86 across all trials. The prediction abilities of the GCA for GY were low, ranging between − 0.14 and 0.13 across all trials in the model including only inbred lines; the prediction abilities of the GCA for GY were improved and ranged from 0.49 to 0.55 across all trials in the model including both inbred lines and testers, while the prediction abilities of the SCA for GY were negative across all trials. The prediction abilities for GY between testers varied from − 0.66 to 0.82; the performance of hybrids between testers is difficult to predict. GS offers the opportunity to predict the performance of new hybrids and the GCA of new inbred lines based on the molecular marker information, the total breeding cost could be reduced dramatically by phenotyping fewer multiple-location trials.

This study was conducted to estimate heterosis and combining ability for yield and some economic-related characteristics in tomato. For this purpose, six tomato lines with their 15 direct hybrids resulted from half-diallel mating were cultivated during the 2017 and 2018 seasons in Al-Jamasah station, Tartous agricultural research center, Syria. Results showed that most of the hybrids were characterized by significant desirable heterosis compared to mid-parents and the best-parent for most of the studied traits. Heterosis reached 49.03 and 33.4% for single plant yield, -31.2 and -29.27 for the number of days to the beginning of flowering, 89.73 and 61.77% for the number of fruits per cluster, 15.72 and 9.30% for fruit height, 27.29 and 24.18% for fruit diameter, 32.55 and 24.18% for the number of locales per fruit comparing to mid-parents and best-parent, respectively. The hybrids T2×T6, T2×T8, and T8×T16 were significantly superior and could be promising hybrids for improving yield potential. Variations related to general and specific combining ability were highly significant, indicating the role of additive and non-additive gene action in the inheritance of the studied traits. Furthermore, the ratio (σ2GCA/σ2SCA) showed the control of additive gene action in the inheritance of fruit weight, fruit height, fruit diameter, and the number of fruits per cluster, while non-additive gene action controlled the inheritance of single plant yield, the number of days to flowering and the number of locales per fruit.

With the application of hybrid wheat, lodging is becoming one of the major factors limiting high yield in its production. However, few studies have focused on combining ability and heterosis analysis of stem-related traits. In this study, 24 crosses were made according to NCII genetic design, using the three (photo-sensitive male sterile lines)×eight (restorer lines) incomplete diallel crosses. The length of basal second internode (LBSI) and breaking strength of basal second internode (BSBSI) as well as other stem-related traits were used to perform the principal component analysis (PCA), combining ability and heterosis analysis. The PCA results showed that the variables could be classified into two main factors, which were named as the positive factor (factor 1) and the negative factor (factor 2), and accounted for 52.3 and 33.2%, respectively, of the total variance in different variables, combined with the analysis for index weight indicated that the factor 1-related traits play positive roles in lodging resistance formation of hybrids. Combining ability variance analysis indicated that its genetic performance was mainly dominated by additive gene effects, and the hybrid combinations with higher lodging resistance can be selected by using of 14GF6085 (R1), 14GF6343-2 (R4), 14GF6937 (R6), 14GF7433-1 (R7), and BS1086 (M3), which are with the features with lower general combining ability (GCA) effects of factor 2-related traits whereas higher GCA effects of factor 1-related traits. The heterosis analysis showed that the wide range of heterosis varied with the traits and combinations, and GCA or specific combining ability (SCA) effects of factor 1-related traits except wall thickness of basal second internode (WTBSI) were positively and closely related to the heterosis of lodging resistance. Generally, the correlation coefficients of heterosis to GCA effects of sterile lines (GCAm) of factor 1-related traits are significantly higher than that to GCA of restorer lines (GCAr) and SCA, combined with the higher GCAm variance values of factor 1-related traits compared to GCAr, the GCAm of factor 1-related traits should be particularly considered when breeding hybrid combinations. The heritability analysis showed that the narrow-sense heritability of the diameter of basal second internode (DBSI) and the center of gravity height (TCGH) were obviously lower (

Genetically diverse bell pepper cultivars and their 30 F1 hybrids were developed by means of diallel mating system including reciprocals. Variance analysis illustrated considerable disparity among newly developed bacterial wilt resistant hybrid lines for all the studied traits. General Combining ability (gca) effects were more pronounced than specific combining ability effects (sca). The gca effects were high with parents DPBWRC-6-1, EC-464107, EC-464115 and DPBWRC-39 for fruit yield and yield-enhancing traits. Further, reciprocal effects influenced all parameters except fruit width, TSS and lobes per fruit. Among the additive and non-additive genetic variance, the latter had a more significant influence on the inheritance of all studied characters except for fruit width and pericarp thickness. Based on sca analysis, three cross-combinations viz., DPBWRC-29×EC-464107, DPBWRC-39× DPBWRC-1 and EC-464115 × DPBWRC-29 were found to be good specific combiners for the majority of traits and can further be utilized to isolate superior segregates or released as hybrids.

Increasing seed yield, fatty acids, and essential oil content are the main objectives in breeding coriander. However, in order to achieve this, there is a need to understand the nature of gene action and quantify the heterosis and inbreeding depression. Towards this, six genetically diverse parents, their 15 F1 one-way hybrids, and 15 F2 populations were evaluated under different water treatments. The genetic effects of general (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) and their interactions with water treatment were significant for five traits. Water deficit stress decreased all traits in both F1 and F2 generations except for the essential oil content, which was significantly increased due to water deficit stress. Under water deficit stress, a non-additive gene action was predominant in the F1 generation, while an additive gene action was predominant in the F2 generation for all the traits except seed yield under severe water deficit stress. There was a positive high heterosis for the traits examined in some hybrids. Furthermore, in the F2 generation, even after inbreeding depression, some promising populations displayed appropriate mean performance. The results show that the parents used for crossing had a rich, diverse gene pool for the traits studied. Therefore, selection between the individuals of relevant F2 populations could be used to develop high yielding hybrids or superior lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powdery mildew is one of the most important diseases of cucurbits in the world and Iran. The disease is found in cucumbers, melons, cantaloupes, squash, and watermelons in both farm and greenhouse conditions and causes great damage. Cultivating resistant cultivars or chemical control with fungicides can be used to control this disease. In this study, 28 different genotypes of hullless seed pumpkin were studied and compared for powdery mildew resistance in potted conditions in a greenhouse. To achieve this, the genotypes in the greenhouse were sprayed with powdery mildew spores, and when signs of powdery mildew appeared through infection on the plants, the severity of the disease was determined by image processing using a program written in MATLAB software. The mean comparison showed that the lowest level of infection was related to lines 11 and 23 and hybrids of 7x16, 2x16, and 2x23. The highest negative general combining ability was related to line 11 and the highest negative specific combining ability was related to hybrids 7x14, 2x16, 2x23, and 11x14. The highest negative heterosis compared to the high parent was related to 11x14, 2x23, and 2x16 hybrids. Due to the significant values obtained for specific combining ability and significant heterosis in hybrids, the role of dominance variance in controlling this trait is prominent, and hybrid production is recommended to improve resistance to powdery mildew. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To generate high-yielding cultivars with favorable fiber quality traits, cotton breeders can use information about combining ability and gene activity within a population to locate elite parents and potential F1 crosses. To this end, in the current study, twelve cotton parents (eight genotypes as female parents and four testers) and their F1 crosses obtained utilizing the linex tester mating design were evaluated for their general and specialized combining abilities (GCA and SCA, respectively) of yield traits. The findings showed that for all the investigated variables, variances owing to genotypes, parents, crosses, and parent vs cross showed extremely significant (P ≤ 0.01) differences. Additionally, throughout the course of two growing seasons, the mean squares for genotypes (parents and crosses) showed strong significance for all the variables under study. The greatest and most desired means for all the examined qualities were in the parent G.94, Pima S6, and tester G.86. The best crossings for the qualities examined were G.86 (G.89 × G.86), G.93 × Suvin, and G.86 × Suvin. The parents' Suvin, G89x G86 and TNB were shown to have the most desired general combining ability effects for seed cotton yield/plant, lint yield/plant, boll weight, number of bolls/plants, and lint index, while Suvin, G.96 and pima S6 were preferred for favored lint percentage. For seed cotton yield, lint percentage, boll weight, and number of bolls per plant per year, the cross-G.86 x (G.89 × G.86) displayed highly significant specific combining ability impacts. The crosses G.86 × Suvin, Kar x TNB, G.93 × Suvin, and G.93 × TNB for all the studied traits for each year and their combined were found to have highly significant positive heterotic effects relative to better parent, and they could be used in future cotton breeding programs for improving the studied traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prediction models based on pedigree and/or molecular marker information are now an inextricable part of the crop breeding programs and have led to increased genetic gains in many crops. Optimization of IRRI's rice drought breeding program is crucial for better implementation of selections based on predictions. Historical datasets with precise and robust pedigree information have been a great resource to help optimize the prediction models in the breeding programs. Here, we leveraged 17 years of historical drought data along with the pedigree information to predict the new lines or environments and dissect the G×E interactions. Seven models ranging from basic to proposed higher advanced models incorporating interactions, and genotypic specific effects were used. These models were tested with three cross-validation schemes (CV1, CV2, and CV0) to assess the predictive ability of tested and untested lines in already observed environments and tested lines in novel or new environments. In general, the highest prediction abilities were obtained when the model accounting interactions between pedigrees (additive) and environment were included. The CV0 scheme (predicting unobserved or novel environments) reveals very low predictive abilities among the three schemes. CV1 and CV2 schemes that borrow information from the target and correlated environments have much higher predictive abilities. Further, predictive ability was lower when predicting lines in non-stress conditions using drought data as training set and/or viceversa. When predicting the lines using the data sets under the same conditions (stress or non-stress data sets), much better prediction accuracy was obtained. These results provide conclusive evidence that modeling G×E interactions are important in predictions. Thus, considering G×E interactions would help to build enhanced genomic or pedigree-based prediction models in the rice breeding program. Further, it is crucial to borrow the correlated information from other environments to improve prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]