The crossability ofTriticum turgidumwithAegilops tauschii

Abstract

Two experiments to investigate the crossability of Triticum turgidum with Aegilops tauschii are described. In the first experiment, 372 wide hybridization combinations were done by crossing 196 T. turgidum lines belonging to seven subspecies with 13 Ae. tauschii accessions. Without embryo rescue and hormone treatment, from the 66220 florets pollinated, 3713 seeds were obtained, with a mean crossability percentages of 5.61% which ranged from 0 to 75%. A lot of hybrid seeds could germinate and produce plants. Out of 372 combinations, 73.12% showed a very low crossability less than 5%, 23.39% showed the crossability of 5-30%, 2.69% showed the crossability of 30-50%, 0.81%, showed high crossability more than 50%, respectively. Among the seven T. turgidum subspecies, there were significant differences in crossability. The ssp. dicoccoides and dicoccon showed the highest crossability, while polonicum the lowest. All the crossability percentages more than 30% were obtained from the crossing of ssp. dicoccoides or dicoccon with Ae. tauschii. In the second experiment, the genetics of crossability was investigated using T turgidum ssp. durum cultivar Langdon and the D-genome disomic substitution lines of Langdon. Compared with the control Langdon, lines 7D(7A) and 4D(4B) showed higher crossability, which suggested that chromosomes 7A and 4B of tetraploid wheat cv. Langdon carried dominant alleles inhibiting crossability with Ae. tauschii. The relationships of present results with previously reported crossability genes of wheat are discussed.