Dataset of nine agronomic traits in bread wheat phenotyped under irrigated and rain-fed environments

Higher yield and broad adaptation to drought-prone environments are key targets of wheat breeding programs. This can be achieved through a complete knowledge of the genetic architecture of yield and its related traits. This brief article provides analysed mean data used in the research article entitled “QTL mapping for nine drought-responsive agronomic traits in bread wheat under irrigated and rain-fed environments” (Gahlaut et al., 2017). Phenotypic data were recorded on nine important agronomic traits on a doubled haploid (DH) mapping population derived from the cross Kukri/Excalibur. For recording this data, the mapping population was grown during three crop seasons (2010–11 to 2012–13) at four separate locations in India, both under irrigated and rain-fed environments. This dataset is valuable for wheat breeders to better understand the genetic basis of drought tolerance in wheat.


a b s t r a c t
Higher yield and broad adaptation to drought-prone environments are key targets of wheat breeding programs. This can be achieved through a complete knowledge of the genetic architecture of yield and its related traits. This brief article provides analysed mean data used in the research article entitled "QTL mapping for nine drought-responsive agronomic traits in bread wheat under irrigated and rain-fed environments" . Phenotypic data were recorded on nine important agronomic traits on a doubled haploid (DH) mapping population derived from the cross Kukri/Excalibur. For recording this data, the mapping population was grown during three crop seasons (2010-11 to 2012-13) at four separate locations in India, both under irrigated and rain-fed environments. This dataset is valuable for wheat breeders to better understand the genetic basis of drought tolerance in wheat.   Table 1

Value of the Data
• The phenotypic data presented here provides a reference to the agronomical performance of wheat grown under different water regimes. • Agronomy and crop science researchers can benefit from these datasets.
• This dataset includes a wide range of agronomical traits that were phenotype at four locations. It can be used for further genetic studies and breeding programs of wheat, especially for drought tolerance.

Plant material
A double haploid (DH) mapping population was developed by crossing drought tolerant and sensitive genotypes. Excalibur and Kukri were used as male and female parent respectively to develop mapping population. Excalibur is a drought tolerant cultivar and was released in 1999 and Kukri is a hard-white wheat and drought sensitive cultivar and, was released in 1991 [3] .
This DH population contained a set of 192 DH lines.

Experimental design
For phenotypic evaluation, DH lines were grown at four locations in India, i.e. Hisar, Kanpur, Karnal and Pune for three consecutive crop seasons, i.e., 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 (For more details, see Table 1 ). At each location, experiment was conducted under IR and RF conditions. Augmented experimental design was used to raise the 192 DH lines along with three check genotypes (NI5439, PBW175, and WH147). The experimental design includes 12 blocks; each block contained 19 entries, including 16 DH lines and three check genotypes. Each line in a block consisted of a plot of three rows, each row of 1.5 m length, with row-to-row distance of 25 cm. The seed rate was 10 g seed/m 2 for each genotype. Standard agronomic practices were followed for conducting the experiments. In IR environments, four flood irrigations (each with 45 mm) in addition to rainfall were given. The first irrigation was given at 21 days after sowing (DAS), subsequently, second, third and fourth irrigations were given at 40, 60 and 80 DAS, respectively ( Table 2 ). In the RF environments, single irrigation was given at 21 DAS to allow the crop to establish and to avoid complete crop failure. Harvesting was done in late March or early April in each crop-season, to prevent the experience of heat stress in late April. The details of climatic data (rainfall, total daylight, day length) during three crop seasons at four locations in India are provided in Table 2 .

Data collection
The DH lines were phenotyped and data were recorded for the following nine traits -(i) GP: Germination was considered when radical with > 2 mm length was emerged from the soil. Number of germinated seed were counted and GP was calculated with the formula GP = (number of germinated seed/total seed sown) x 100. The germination percent in each plot was recorded daily up to 10 days after sowing. for normality and homogeneity. Augmented experimental design is a non-replicated design and checks are used to nullify the experimental error. During present study, the adjusted mean of 192 DH lines for nine traits in all environments was estimated using three check varieties, and for this purpose Statistical Package for Augmented Designs (SPAD) package [5] was used.

Ethics Statements
The paper is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.