AN EVALUATION OF SEED GROWTH IN SOFT RED WINTER WHEAT

Four cultivars and five lines of soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) representing Arthur and Knox types and Arthur by Knox types were grown in the field. The rate of duration of dry matter, carbohydrate and protein accumulation during seed maturation, the weight of the seed at 10 days post-anthesis and the weight of 200 seeds at maturity were measured in seeds from the central spikelet. The Arthur types (Arthur, Oasis, Beau) had relative and maximal rates of dry matter, carbohydrate and protein accumulation that were greater than the Knox types (Monon, 65256, 65309). The duration over which dry weight, carbohydrates and protein accumulated in the seeds was consistently longer in the Knox types. The rate and duration of dry matter, carbohydrate and protein accumulation in the Arthur by Knox types (6413, 71586 and 72483) were more similar to the Arthur types. Ranking each cultivar or line with regard to the measured parameters of seed growth favored the Arthur types with the following ranking from the seeds that were the greatest sinks to those that were the poorest: 71586, Arthur, Beau, 72483, Oasis, 6413, Monon, 65309 and 65256.