Comparative pollination efficiency of freshly harvested pollen of Imperata cylindrica and Zea mays for haploid induction in bread wheat

Pollen viability is among the critical factors, which determine the success of a doubled haploidy breeding programme, thus the present investigation was undertaken to assess the functional viability and relative longevity of the pollen from Zea mays and Imperata cylindrica for the chromosome elimination mediated approach of doubled haploidy breeding. Two wheat genotypes representing spring and winter ecotypes, namely DH 40 and Saptdhara were pollinated with freshly harvested pollen of two known potential haploid inducing sources, namely Z. mays (grown in polyhouse conditions) and I. cylindrica (wild grass) for 15 and 17 days, respectively, keeping five minutes interval between two subsequent pollinations. The results revealed a significant decrease in the viability of Z. mays pollen up to 95 percent in Saptdhara and 85 percent in DH 40 within one hour, whereas Imperata pollen was found to be functionally viable even at the end of experimentation period, showing high embryo formation in both the wheat parents. I. cylindrica exhibited higher frequencies for haploid induction parameters in both the wheat parents as compared to Z. mays. I. cylindrica pollen, being viable for relatively longer periods than Z. mays can hasten the haploid induction endeavours, thus may be a more efficient alternative to Z. mays for breeding programmes using doubled haploidy technique

Interactive genotypic influence of triticale and wheat on their crossability and haploid induction under varied agroclimatic regimes

The investigation was undertaken at two different climatic regimens of NW Himalayas, to determine the response of diverse genotypes of triticale and wheat and environment on their crossability as well as to evaluate the efficiency of Imperata cylindrica-mediated chromosome elimination approach for haploid induction in triticale × wheat (Triticum aestivum) hybrids. The experimental material included three elite hexaploid triticale genotypes (DT123, DT126 and TL9335) and five bread wheat genotypes (DH40, HPW155, HS295, VL829 and C306). Significant genotypic and environmental variations were observed for seed setting at two agroclimatic zones. Among parental genotypes, DT126 (triticale) and C306, HPW155 and HS295 (wheat) responded significantly better for seed setting due to significant positive GCA effects at both locations. Maximum seed set of 39.53% and 45.37% was recorded at short day and long day climates, respectively, proving later as the better location for seed setting in most of the crosses. For all the three parameters of haploid induction, viz. pseudoseed formation, embryo formation and regeneration, significant differences were recorded in all the triticale × wheat hybrids depicting the potential of I. cylindrica-mediated approach for haploid induction. Triticale × wheat cross DT126 × HS295 followed by DT126 × HPW155 were found to be significantly more responsive towards embryo formation and regeneration