Production of wheat haploids using anther culture and wheat x maize hybridization techniques

Ten spring wheat breeding lines derived from diverse crosses differed significantly in their response to anther culture and wheat x maize hybridization techniques for the production of haploids. Depending on the genotype, the frequency of embryo induction from cultured anthers ranged from 0.1 to 55.6 per 100 anthers with a mean of 16.3. Plant regeneration from cultured embryos also varied with the genotype. Although the embryos from one line failed to regenerate, those from the nine other lines produced both green and albino plantlets. The frequency of green plants produced per 100 cultured anthers ranged from 0 to 4.73 with a mean of 1.64. Depending on the genotype, 25 to 75% of the anther-derived green plants showed spontaneous chromosome doubling. The wheat x maize hybridization technique was highly effective in producing haploids in all ten breeding lines, although the frequency varied with genotype. The percentage of seed set ranged from 52.7 to 71.6 with a mean of 62.5, but only 19.3% of the seeds contained embryos. About 75% of the cultured embryos developed into green plants. The number of green plants produced per 100 pollinated florets ranged from 2.40 to 12.66 with a mean of 6.29, all having the haploid chromosome number of 21. The line recalcitrant to anther culture produced the highest number of haploids with the wheat x maize hybridization method. There was no evidence of albinism or spontaneous chromosome doubling. The reduced genotype specificity, absence of albinism and ease of application, makes the wheat x maize hybridization technique more efficient than anther culture for the production of haploids in common wheat.