Repository logo
 

Characterizing the Flax Core Collection for Earliness and Canopy Traits

dc.contributor.advisorBooker, Helenen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBeattie, Aaronen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBueckert, Rosalinden_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberCoulman, Bruceen_US
dc.creatorZhang, Taoen_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-04-26T12:00:29Z
dc.date.available2013-04-26T12:00:29Z
dc.date.created2013-04en_US
dc.date.issued2013-04-25en_US
dc.date.submittedApril 2013en_US
dc.description.abstractEarly maturity is an important objective for breeding flax adapted to the Western Canada. Crop canopy traits influence seed yield; however, studying its effects is challenging due to the complexity and limited knowledge of the genetics of this trait. The objectives of this research are : i) to characterize flax accessions from the Canadian gene bank collection for early flowering, maturity and canopy traits; ii) to identify SSR markers associated with plant branching and leaf area index (LAI); iii) to use Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to identify canopy variables with significant effects on yield. The flax core collection, consisting of approximately 381 accessions, was grown at the Kernen Crop Research Farm in 2010 and 2011. Additionally, 17 early and 17 late flowering accessions from the flax core collection were screened and their phenotypic responses in both growth chamber and field environments were measured. A large amount of phenotypic diversity was observed in long day and short day environments in these experiments. Some accessions appeared to be more photosensitive, while others were photoperiod insensitive. The genetic control of canopy traits such as LAI and plant branching were studied using association mapping. Genotyping of the core collection was conducted using 375 SSR markers. Population structure analysis assigned the 381 flax accessions in the core collection into four distinct groups. Model comparison revealed that the mixed linear model reduced spurious marker trait associations. A total of 26 markers were identified to be significantly associated with plant branching and LAI. The simultaneous examination of crop phenology and canopy traits to seed yield was performed using SEM analysis. The results indicated greater plant stand resulted in higher irradiance absorption and which resulted in greater seed yield. Days to flowering had a significant negative effect on seed yield and growing degree days to maturity had a significant effect on seed yield. Plant branching and plant height had a positive non-linear effect on seed yield. This study has provided several insights into molecular approaches and statistical methods to improve flax breeding.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10388/ETD-2013-04-983en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.subjectFlax core collectionen_US
dc.subjectCanopy traitsen_US
dc.subjectAssociation Mappingen_US
dc.subjectSEMen_US
dc.titleCharacterizing the Flax Core Collection for Earliness and Canopy Traitsen_US
dc.type.genreThesisen_US
dc.type.materialtexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentPlant Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.disciplinePlant Scienceen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Saskatchewanen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.Sc.)en_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
ZHANG-THESIS.pdf
Size:
2.21 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1003 B
Format:
Plain Text
Description: