Coupling estimated effects of QTLs for physiological traits to a crop growth model: predicting yield variation among recombinant inbred lines in barley

Predicting barley yield variation among recombinant inbred lines is discussed. A study has been carried out to assess ability of a crop growth model with QTL-based estimates of physiological input parameters to the yield. The model predicts yield as spike biomass accumulates in the post-flowering period. A two-stage procedure for predicting trait values from estimated additive and epistatic effects of QTLs is described. Both types of input values often gave large discrepancies between observed and predicted values.