Comparison of Crossabilities of Tetraploid Wheat with Hordeum bulbosum and Maize

Abstract

The crossabilities of twenty tetraploid wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) varieties with Hordeum bulbosum L. and maize (Zea mays L.) were compared. The embryo formation frequencies had variations ranging from 0.0% to 26.3% in crosses with H. bulbosum, and 0.0% to 20.6% in crosses with maize. A significant correlation coefficient (r=0.540, P<0.05) was obtained for embryo formation frequencies between H. bulbosum and maize crosses, indicating that some genetic factor(s) controls the crossabilities in these crosses. In comparison with the results previously published on hexaploid wheat (T. aestivum L.), it is also supposed that absence of D genome in tetraploid wheat results in the crossability variation in crosses with maize.