Meiotic Behaviour and Fertility of Cultures Derived From Crosses of Wheats With Agropyron and Elymus Species

Seven cultures derived from Trittcum aestivum × Agropyron elongation crossses and four lines developed from T. aestivnum × Elymus giganteus hybrids backcrossed to T. aestivum were evaluated for their meiotic stability, fertility and rust resistance. Somatic chromosome number was found to be 42 in nine cultures and 56 in the remaining two. Low spike fertility appeared to be caused largely by incidence of meiotic abnormalities as observed in pollen mother cells. All the four lines derived from Triticum × Elymus hybrids backcrossed to wheats were characterised by a high degree of resistance to both leaf and stem rusts but showed poor seed setting.