Inheritance in oat (Avena sativa L.) of tolerance to soil aluminum toxicity
Paulo Henrique de Oliveira, Luiz Carlos Federizzi, Sandra Cristina Kothe Milach, Cristiano Gotuzzo, and Joaquim Taizo Sawasato
Aluminum toxicity is a limiting factor for the expression of the yield potential in oat. The development of aluminum toxicity-tolerant genotypes is the cheapest and most feasible alternative for cultivation of soils with acid subsoil. Objectives of this study were to determine the gene action, number of genes and heritability of tolerance of oat genotypes to toxic aluminum concentrations. Parent genotypes and the F1 and F2 generations of some crossings plus the F3, F4, F5, BC1F1, and BC2F1 generations were discriminated by the analysis of root regrowth in plantlets exposed to aluminum. Additive gene action predominated among the genetic effects. Only one segregating gene was found which has multiple alleles, two for tolerance (Al1 and Al2) and one for sensitivity (al). The heritability of the trait was high, indicating that tolerant genotypes can be selected in early generations of improvement programs.