Inheritance of cadmium concentration in five durum wheat crosses

High cadmium concentration in cereal grains has been cited as a human health concern. Several reports showed that gain cadmium concentration was higher in durum (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) than in common wheat (T. aestivum L.). The objective of this research was to determine the inheritance of observed differences in grain cadmium concentration of durum wheat. This information could be used to facilitate breeding of cultivars with low grain cadmium concentration. Grain cadmium concentration was determined in the F-2 and in F-2:3 families of one cross and in F-2:3 and F-3:4 families of two crosses. Grain and leaf cadmium concentration was measured in random F-8:9 and Fs:,, families of three crosses. All trials were conducted in the field on Aridic Haploborall, Vertic Cryoborall, or Gleyed Black soils. Grain cadmium concentration was largely controlled by a single gene, with low cadmium dominant. Leaf cadmium concentration was highly correlated,vith grain cadmium concentration (r = 0.87-0.89, P < 0.01). Therefore, leaf cadmium concentration can predict the plant phenotype, which would be useful in backcrossing the low cadmium trait into high cadmium cultivars. Heritability in standard units, estimated by F-2:3 progeny regression on F-2 parent or F-2:4 progeny regression on F-2:3 parent, ranged from 0.84 +/- 0.06 to 0.88 +/- 0.08, indicating that breeding of low grain cadmium cultivars is feasible. Heritability estimated from variance components (years, locations, replications, and genotypes) was 0.78, with 90% confidence limits of 0.88 and 0.67. The simple inheritance and high heritability of grain cadmium concentration will facilitate the breeding of low cadmium concentration durum cultivars.