Influence of selected wheat and rye genotypes on the direct synthesis of hexaploid triticale

Summary In the synthesis of primary hexaploid triticale, a cross-incompatibility barrier exists when tetraploid wheat (4X) is crossed with diploid (2X) rye. Fertilization may occur, however, abnormal endosperm development usually leads to premature embryo death. Four selected tetraploid wheat lines were crossed as females with seven open-pollinated rye lines and the resulting embryos were rescued in vitro 13–16 days after pollination. The wheat genotypes showed a major influence on crossability (seed set), embryo development and plant recovery. The highest efficiency of amphihaploid plant recovery (18.3 plants per 100 pollinated florets) was obtained from one 4X wheat line originally selected from the cross T. carthlicum × T. dicoccoides. Some of the 3X amphihaploid plants (ABR) derived from two wheat lines showed relatively high level of partial fertility presumably as a result of meiotic restitution. Correlation analysis showed that crossability (seed set), normal hybrid embryo development in vivo and embryo culturability were independent of each other.