[Features of crossability, haploidy and polyembryony in hybrid combinations between common barley Hordeum vulgare L. (2n = 14) and wheat-rye substitution lines Triticum aestivum L., cultivar Saratovskaya 29/Secale cereale L., cultivar Onokhoiskaya].

The role of individual chromosomes of rye in the manifestation of crossability and seedling development in hybrid combinations between common barley Hordeum vulgare L., cultivar Nepolegayushchii (2n = 14) and five wheat-rye substitution lines Triticum aestivum L., cultivar Saratovskaya 29/Secale cereale L., cultivar Onokhoiskaya (2n = 40 wheat + 2 rye chromosomes). Crossability, which was measured by two parameters--frequency of set grains and frequency of grains with embryos--was shown to be significantly affected by each of the five rye chromosomes examined: 1R, 2R, 3R, 5R, and 6R; the development of barley haploids was affected by rye chromosomes 1 R, 3R, and 5R. We were the first to demonstrate that polyembryony could be induced by mutual effects of barley cytoplasm and rye chromosome 1R. Possible mechanisms controlling the development of haploids and twins in hybrid combinations H. vulgare x T. aestivum/S. cereale are discussed. The conclusion is drawn that hybrid combinations between common barley and wheat-rye substitution lines can serve as new models for studying incompatibility mechanisms in distant crosses and genetic control of parthenogenesis.