THE CROSSABILITY OF WHEAT CULTlVARS WITH HORDEUM BULBOSUM

Abstract

Thirteen wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars (predominantly winter types) of diverse origin were crossed with diploid H. bulbosum. The seed set values in wheatH. bulbosum crosses ranged froin 1.3% to 22.7%. A marked variation in seed set values between the spikes of the same cultivar suggested that apart from crossability genes environmental factors and cI'Qssing techniques also influence the frequency of seed set. Contrary to the previous reports, results also indicated that the Fl hybrids between wheat and H. bulbosum can be obtained without resorting to embryo culture.