Doubled haploid production in Turkish durum wheats using crosses with maize

Abstract

Abstract Durum wheats cultivated in the Middle Anatolia region of Turkey ( Triticum durum cvs ‘Kunduru’, ‘Berkmen’ and ‘Cakmak’) were crossed with maize to evaluate their capacity for haploid embryo and doubled haploid (DH) plant production. A total of 2960 florets were crossed with maize and 13.7% of the florets produced haploid embryos across the three varieties. Haploid embryo and plant regeneration frequencies were highest in ‘Kunduru’, but colchicine doubling was less successful with this genotype. There were statistically significant differences between ‘Cakmak’ and other genotypes for embryo yield (P < 0.01). Overall, 52.3% of all embryos differentiated, but there were no geno‐typic differences in differentiation frequencies.