Cláudia Martellet Fogaça

Genetic and environmental contributions to increased wheat yield in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Producers need wheat cultivars adapted to the predominant climate conditions of the end of the rainy period. Having this in mind, EPAMIG (Agriculture and Livestock Research Institute of Minas Gerais) has been developing a wheat genetic improvement program since 1976, and the estimates of the genetic improvement established by the breeding programs could be useful to quantify their efficiency. This study focused on the quantification of the genetic progress achieved by these improvement programs of dryland wheat in the Brazilian-savanna between 1976 and 2005. The efficiency of these programs was evaluated based on grain yield data of VCU (Value for Cultivation and Use) trials conducted at ten locations in the Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The mean estimated genetic progress for mean grain yield between 1976 and 2005 was 37 kg ha-1 year-1. The genetic yield gain in the study period indicates that the improvement programs of dryland wheat in the Brazilian-savanna are effective. Besides the marked contribution of genetic gain, the environmental and technological improvements were also relevant for the yield, accounting for 47.4% of the total progress in the period. The improvement programs of dryland wheat resulted in a genotype renovation rate of 35% over the years.

Diversidade genética em cultivares de arroz e correlações entre caracteres agronômicos

The objective of this study was to estimate the genotypic correlation between traits and study the genetic diversity of the most cultivated rice cultivars between 1950 and 2001. Two field experiments were conducted at the experimental fields known as Airport and Agronomy, both belong to the Federal University of Vicosa, in Vicosa, MG. The experiments were arranged in a randomized block design with three replications and 25 cultivars. Data on grain yield, plant height, days to flowering, initial stand, final stand, useful tillering, grains per panicle, percentage of sterile spikelets or ears per panicle, and grain weight were collected and analyzed. It was verified high genotypic correlations for most trait pairs. The traits with strongest influence on yield were grains per panicle, percentage of sterile grains and grain weight. The cultivars Guarani and Bico Ganga were the most genetically divergent and cultivars Amarelao and IAC 25 the most similar.

In vitro microtuberization of cassava cultivars: morphological and anatomical aspects

The goal of this work was to induce in vitro tuberization of cassava cultivars (Manihot esculenta Crantz.) in two kinds of media, under the influence of different growth regulators and sucrose concentrations, as well as to determine subsequent structural alterations due to the tuberization. The influence of the kind of media, action of BAP and NAA and doses of sucrose (3%, 6% and 8% w/v) were analyzed by measuring the length of the aerial portion, number of roots, morphological pattern of the tuber roots, as well as anatomical changes. There were differences among the cultivars regarding the response to in vitro tuberization. Cultivar Parazinha had better induction of tuber roots, where treatment was with 0.4 µM BAP, 1.6 µM NAA and 8% sucrose as inducing medium, whether in solid or liquid medium. Cultivar Mantiqueira had the tallest aerial portion, longest root and largest number of roots, but the induction of tuber roots was recalcitrant. Anatomically, the microtuberization in vitro was characterized by the presence of starch grains.