The effect of spikelet position on the success frequencies of wheat haploid production using the maize cross system

Abstract

Barbela is an old Portuguese landrace of wheat that is highly genetically heterogeneous. Different Barbela populations when subjected to aluminium stress show variable levels of tolerance. In order to study the inheritance of this character, doubled haploid (DH) lines were developed. These DH were obtained by intergeneric crosses of 14 different lines of Barbela with maize. During this process the efficiency of the technique was evaluated and suggestions for its improvement were obtained. Several parameters were studied in the crosses: % of crossability, % of embryos per florets pollinated and % of embryos per seed set. The different genotypes of Barbela showed significant variation for the parameters analysed. When the reciprocal crosses were analysed, no differences were found, indicating that cytoplasm differences do not influence the parameters of DH production. However, different spikelet positions (lower, middle and upper) gave highly significant differences in all parameters analysed. Highest success frequencies were obtained for pollinated spikelets in the middle of the spike. This can indicate that concentrating on the middle part of the spike can increase the frequency of DHs obtained using inter generic crosses of wheat with maize.