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Predicting the Number of Dominant R Alleles in Single Wheat Kernels Using Visible and Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectra

¹Grain Marketing and Production Research Center, ARS, USDA, Manhattan, KS 66502. Names are necessary to report factually on available data; however, the USDA neither guarantees nor warrants the standard of the product, and the use of the name by the USDA implies no approval of the product to the exclusion of others that may also be suitable. ²Corresponding author. E-mail: fdowell@usgmrl.ksu.edu ³Agricultural Engineering Dept., Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2117.

An optical radiation measurement system was used to measure reflectance spectra of single wheat kernels from 400 to 2,000 nm. A total of 18 wheat samples with 0, 1, 2, or 3 R alleles for red grain color was used for this study. The results indicated a linear relationship between the degree of the red pigmentation and the number of R alleles. The highest coefficient of determination (R²) was 0.78 in the wavelength region of 500–1,700 nm when a four-class partial least squares model was used. The highest classification of red genes was 78.4%. For two-class models, differentiating samples with 0 R alleles and 1 R allele from samples with 3 R alleles had the highest success rate of 100 and 98.8%, respectively. The number and combination of R alleles had a significant effect on wheat kernel color. These relationships may be useful to wheat breeders in estimating the number and location of R alleles.