Hybridization and molecular characterization of F1 Allium cepa × Allium roylei plants

Abstract

We made interspecific crosses to facilitate the introgression of desirable traits of Allium roylei into the Allium cepa genome. After hand-pollination, 906 interspecific F1 Allium cepa × A. roylei plants were obtained by in vitro culture via embryo rescue. Nuclear DNA analysis showed that 97.6% of the regenerants were interspecific F1 Allium cepa × A. roylei hybrids. Genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) showed that each hybrid had 16 chromosomes, eight of which were identified as A. cepa and eight as A. roylei chromosomes. © Polish Academy of Sciences and Jagiellonian University, Cracow 2012.