Cluster Analysis of Red Winter Wheat Cultivars Based upon Coefficients of Parentage¹

Abstract

Cluster analysis was conducted using the coefficients of parentage ( r ) between all pairwise combinations of 110 recently released or historically important red winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars. The objectives were to determine the overall pattern of relationships and to search for genetic clusters within the soft red winter (SRW) and hard red winter (HRW) wheat gene pools. The two classes contained overlapping germplasm (r̄ between the two classes = 0.05). Thirty‐eight SRW cultivars formed six clusters based on predominant parents (‘Arthur’, ‘Benhur’, ‘Coker 68‐15’, ‘Lucas’, ‘Knox’, and ‘Blueboy’), whereas 49 HRW cultivars formed seven clusters (based on ‘Triumph’, ‘Sturdy’, ‘Scout’, ‘Blackhull’‐ ‘Tenmarq’, ‘Turkey’, ‘Parker’‐‘Centurk’, and ‘Warrior’). Principal coordinate analysis separated these 13 clusters primarily by class (HRW vs. SRW), but also by geographical origin of predominant parents within classes. These results may have application in parental selection for conventional cultivar, hybrid cultivar, and population development in winter wheat.