TaGRF3-2A Improves Some Agronomically Valuable Traits in Semi-Dwarf Spring Triticale.

The breeding improvement of triticale is tightly associated with the introgression of dwarfing genes, in particular, gibberellin (GA)-insensitive from rye. Despite the increase in harvest index and resistance to lodging, this gene adversely affects grain weight and size. Growth regulation factor () genes are plant-specific transcription factors that play an important role in plant growth, including GA-induced stem elongation. This study presents the results of a two-year field experiment to assess the effect of alleles of the -2A gene in interaction with on economically valuable traits of spring triticale plants grown in the Non-Chernozem zone. Our results show that, depending on the allelic state, the -2A gene in semi-dwarf spring triticale plants influences the thousand grain weight and the grain weight of the main spike in spring triticale, which makes it possible to use it to compensate for the negative effects of the dwarfing allele . The identified allelic variants of the -2A gene can be included in marker-assisted breeding for triticale to improve traits.