Durum wheat haploid production using maize wide-crossing.

While anther culture or pollinations with Hordeum bulbosum have provided suitable methods for haploid production in bread wheat, they have been largely unsuccessful in durum wheat. Pollinations with maize were used in an attempt to produce haploid seedlings and, from these, fertile doubled haploids of durum wheats. Moreover, the effect of various concentrations and combinations of a synthetic auxin, 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), kinetin, and an ethylene inhibitor, silver nitrate (AgNO3), on embryo recovery were also investigated. Haploid seedlings were recovered from Triticum turgidum ssp. turgidum cv 'Rampton Rivet' pollinated with maize following in-vivo treatment of ovaries with 2,4-D for 2 weeks and subsequent embryo culture. The recovery of haploid seedlings from T. turgidum ssp. durum cv. 'Wakona' pollinated with maize necessitated the addition of AgNO3, to the 2,4-D treatment. Overall, haploid seedlings were produced in 1.7% and 3.3% of pollinated florets for "Rampton Rivet" and "Wakona" respectively. The success of the present work represents a significant breakthrough for haploid production in durum wheats. Wide hybridization with maize followed by in-vivo treatment of ovaries with 2,4-D alone, or in combination with AgNO3, may provide a widely-applicable method of haploid production in tetraploid wheats.