Examination of ability to androgenesis of spring wheat genotypes resistant to Fusarium

Abstract

Diseases caused by fungi from the genus Fusarium constitute a serious problem in spring wheat cultivation. Ear infestation leads reduced yield and plant contamination with mycotoxins. Therefore it is essential to introduce resistance genes to high-yielding cultivars. The generation of double haploid (DH) lines makes it possible to shorten the time required to select favourable genotypes. The aim of this study was to analyze the capacity of plants to regenerate in anther cultures and to generate DH of spring wheat genotypes that potentially constitute germplasm material for resistance breeding, directed against fungi from the genus Fusarium. The plant material comprised wheat cultivars with increased resistance to Fusarium: Sumai 3, Ning 8331, Norin 52, Frontana, as well as line 8475-59 and high-yielding Polish cultivars: Lagwa, Waluta and Zadra. Spikes were subjected to a thermal shock at 4°C. Anthers were placed on the C17 inducing medium. Two combinations of growth regulators, i.e. 2,4-D and kinetin as well as 2,4-D and dicamba were applied. A total of 19,200 anthers were used, resulting in a total of 440 calli from which 352 plants were obtained. Of this number 14% were albino. The regeneration efficiency ranged from 0% to 17.33% depending on the analyzed genotype and the combination of growth regulators in the induction medium. The highest number of green plants and seeds were obtained from cv. Lagwa, Zadra and Sumai 3. Analyses of the regenerants, using a flow cytometer, demonstrated that depending on the genotype, haploids constituted approx 75% of green plants. Doubling of the number of chromosomes at a 40% efficiency rate took place when 0.1% colchicine was used. In the experiment 54 DH lines were obtained from which 283 kernels were collected. The best genotypes for crossing components in terms of their regeneration ability were found to be cultivar Frontana among the cultivars resistant to Fusarium, and cultivar Lagwa from Polish cultivars used in the experiment.