Divergent Selection for Hydrocyanic Acid Potential in Sudangrass

Authors

Herman J. Gorz, United States Department of Agriculture
Francis A. Haskins, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
K. P. Vogel, United States Department of AgricultureFollow

Date of this Version

3-1982

Comments

Published in Crop Science (March-April 1982) 22: 322-325.

Abstract

Alteration in hydrocyanic acid potential (HCN-p) of the forage is one of the important objectives in sudangrass [Sorghum sudanense (Piper) Stapf] breeding programs. The effectiveness of recurrent phenotypic selection for increasing or decreasing HCN-p in sudangrass was evaluated in two cycles of individual plant selection in the cultivar 'Greenleaf'. In cycle 1, HCNP means of the high and low populations were higher and lower, respectively, than for Greenleaf, but only the low-HCN-p population was significantly different from Greenleaf. In cycle 2, mean HCN-p values of both populations differed significantly from Greenleaf. The average realized heritability for the two cycles was 0.40 while broad-sense heritability estimates averaged 0.86. After two cycles of selection, the low and high HCN-p populations differed from Greenleaf by about 17 and 30%, respectively.