Intergeneric hybrids of Triticum aestivum variety Lu-26 and ph1b mutant of the cultivar Chinese Spring were produced with three accessions, A, B, and E, of Aegilops variabilis. Significant differences were found in the amount of homoeologous chromosome pairing at meiotic metaphase I. Hybrids between wheat variety Lu-26 and accessions A and B of Ae. variabilis showed very little pairing, as indicated by the chiasma frequency of 1.0 and 1.5 per cell, respectively. Hybrids between Lu-26 and accession E, on the other hand, showed significantly increased homoeologous pairing (mean chiasma frequency, 12.6/cell). The level of such pairing was essentially the same as that between the hybrids of ph1b 'Chinese Spring' × Ae. variabilis accessions A and B. However, when the ph1b mutant was hyridized with accession E, the level of chromosome pairing increased significantly (mean chiasma frequency, 17.52/cell). This is indicative of the presence of pairing promoter gene(s) in Ae. variabilis accession E, which are epistatic to the wheat Ph1 allele and positively interact with its mutant form to further increase the ph1b ceiling to homoeologous pairing in wheat.Key words: Triticum aestivum, ph1b mutant, Aegilops variabilis, intergeneric hybrids, homoeologous pairing.