Influencing factors of sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation in bread wheat

Bread wheat elite lines and F4 populations were evaluated to determine the influence of genotype and environment on variation in sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) sedimentation, and the relation between SDS sedimentation and other quality characteristics. Nine intermediate hard red wheat elite lines and two checks were evaluated for three years over eight locations, and six F4 populations and two hard red wheat checks were evaluated at three locations. In both sets of material, the genotype and location main effect, and genotype × location interaction were highly significant. The genotype component contributed 85.96% of the total variation in SDS sedimentation in the F4 material, and the genotype × location component only 12.87%. In the elite material the contribution of genotype was high enough to make effective selection for SDS sedimentation possible. The genotype × year effect was large, indicating that testing genotypes across years may be more important than across locations. SDS sedimentation was significantly positively correlated with protein content and mixograph development time, and negatively with yield. Selection of higher SDS sedimentation may lead to overly strong dough and lower yields. Therefore a careful approach should be taken in the selection process, balancing the different objectives in a breeding program.