Anther Culture‐Derived Regenerants from Hordeum vulgare × H. bulbosum Crosses

Abstract Hordeum bulbosum has several desirable attributes, including disease resistance, which would be worthwhile transferring to H. vulgare. Despite homoeologous chromosome pairing in the interspecific hybrids, there have been few reports of successful gene introgression between the two species. A possible explanation for this is that recombinant male gametes are at a competitive disadvantage with normal balanced gametes during post‐pollination events. To circumvent this problem, the possibility of obtaining plants directly from immature pollen grains was investigated. Anthers from diploid, triploid and tetraploid H. vulgare × H. bulbosum hybrids were cultured on defined media. Only hybrids with dehiscent anthers in vivo responded in culture, and after transfer of calli and embryoids to regeneration medium, 36 albino and 12 green plants were obtained. Seven of the green regenerants survived, one of which contained 15 H. vulgare chromosomes (including one acrocentric chromosome) and one H. bulbosum chromosome. Another regenerant (Ac166) resembled a diploid H. vulgare × H. bulbosum hybrid but had partial anther dehiscence and a slightly modified chromosome constitution. Mostly normal H. vulgare progeny were obtained from crosses between H. vulgare cv.‘Emir’ and Ac166, but three plants involved chromosome additions and substitutions.