Selection for Spring‐Habit Clones of Hordeum bulbosum

Abstract

Haploids of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) can be produced from the interspecificross with H. bulbosum L. Usually, H. bulbosum requires vernalization to produce pollen because of its winter habit. The objective of this study was to select spring‐habit clones of H. bulbosum to facilitate the crossing of H. vulgare with H. bulbosum. The efficiency of embryo formation (number of embryos obtained/number of florets pollinated) and haploid production (number of haploids obtained/number of florets pollinated) of clones selected as spring habit were also evaluated. Twenty‐three out of 183 clones flowered without a vernalization treatment. These clones produced sufficient pollen. Efficiencies were 26.3 to 86.5% for embryo formation and 8.2 to 41.9%, for haploid production, and some clones were superior to a conventional winter‐habit type clone. These clones can be used to improve a barley haploid production program.