Himalayan maize — potential pollen source for maize mediated system of chromosome elimination approach in DH breeding of bread wheat

Abstract

To identify an efficient pollen source for maize mediated system of chromosome elimination, wheat genotypes (10 F1s) were pollinated with eight diverse Himalayan maize genotypes. Among these, two were composite varieties Early Composite (Check) and Bajaura Makka (L 201) and rest six were locally grown traditional open pollinated maize varieties collected from diverse regions of North-west Himalaya. The data were recorded for three haploid induction parameters viz. pseudo seed formation, embryo formation and regeneration. In most of the crosses, haploid embryos were produced, asserting the potential of wheat × maize system as a genotype non-specific system as compared to androgenesis and bulbosum technique, where the genotype specificity limits the development of haploid plants. Frequencies of all the three haploid induction parameters in different crosses of wheat × maize clearly indicated that both wheat and maize genotypes were behaving differently for different crosses. The line × tester analysis also ...