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

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: Łagwa, Waluta and Zadra. Spikes were subjected to

a thermal shock at 4EC. 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. Łagwa, 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 Łagwa from Polish cultivars used

in the experiment.