The standard height and Al tolerant cultivar BH-1146 was crossed with semi-dwarf and Al sensitive cultivars Tobari-66 and Siete Cerros, in 1983. Parents, F1's and F2's were tested for their reaction to 1 and 3 mg/l of Al3+ in nutrient solution, in laboratory condition and evaluated for grain yield, plant height, number of spikes per plant, number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spike, number of grains per spikelet, 100-grain-weight and spike length at maturity in an experiment using pots, under a screen house at Experimental Center of Campinas, State of São Paulo, Brazil, in 1984. Medium to high narrow sense heritability estimates were obtained for spike length, number of grains per spike, number of grain per spikelet and number of spikes per plant; and medium to low for other agronomic characteristics under study. Plant height was significantly correlated with all the agronomic characteristics under study, except number of grains per spikelet and 100-grain-weight in the 'BH-1146' x 'Tobari- 66' population. Tolerance to Al3+ toxicity was not associated with grain yield (except for the population from the cross BH-1146 x Tobari-66 using 3 mg/l of Al3+), plant height and number of grain per spikelet. The results suggested that it is possible to select plant types that combine Al3+ tolerance, semi-dwarf height levels and high yield potential to be cultivated on aluminum acid soils. However, larger F2 populations would be required to ensure the frequency of desired recombinants.
wheat; narrow sense heritability; plant height; aluminum toxicity; tolerance; grain yield; number of grain per spikelet