THE EFFECT OF REPEATED ANTHER CULTURE ON INVITRO ANDROGENESIS OF WHEAT (TRITICUM-AESTIVUM L)

Two winter wheat cultivars were used to study the effect of repeated anther cultures on in vitro androgenesis. In the experiments the first and second generations of dihaploids were studied in order to determine the effect of anther cultures and changes in the F1 populations produced between the original and dihaploid plants of the two cultivars were also investigated. The results show that repeated anther cultures do not increase the frequency of pollen embryogenesis as there was no any improvement in androgenic ability of the two dihaploid generations tested. The inclusion of dihaploid plants in crosses led to similar results. The populations gave results either identical to or poorer than those found for the F1 populations of the original plants. The poorer results were obtained when the dihaploid plant was used as the male partner.