Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 March 2009
Mass selection (MS) and bulk selection of a single character (CS) were used for the improvement of a base population, Bl, which was composed of Tai Gu male-sterile progenies of ten high protein content and four high yielding parental lines of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), transferred by 6–10 backcrossing generations, with equal numbers of plants from each line. Backcross mass selection (BS) was used for the improvement of a second base population, B2, which was formed by Tai Gu malesterile plants of four high yielding parental lines, again with equal numbers of plants from each line. Three cycles of selection were conducted for both population Bl and B2. Direct genetic advances of sterile plants for six traits were studied. The results indicated that use of the Tai Gu male-sterile single dominant gene is effective for recurrent selection of wheat. For improvement of a single character, CS was the most effective method, of which the selective effect in the first cycle (Cl) was greater than in the second (C2) and the third cycle (C3), although multivariate analysis snowed that the CS method was not conducive to the maintenance of variation in a population. The greatest response to selection was found in C2 with the MS method. Multivariate analysis also indicated that both the MS and BS methods increased the variation in the population, but MS was found to be the best selective method as judged by the mean response over three cycles of selection.