High production of wheat double haploids via anther culture

Androgenous and regeneration abilities of 14 randomly selected F1 hybrids of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were analyzed. Anthers were grown in vitro on a modified Potato-2 inductive medium. The hybrid NS111-95/Ana had the highest average values for androgenous capacity (33%) and callus yield (119%), while the hybrid NS 92-250/Tiha had the lowest values for these traits (9 and 21%, respectively). Seven genotypes (50%) had a frequency of green plants relative to the number of isolated anthers of over 10%, with the highest frequency of 21.3% (NS111-95/Sremica). This hybrid produced 12.8 doubled haploid (DH) lines per spike used for isolation. In the other genotypes, the number of produced DH lines per spike ranged from 1 (30-Sc.Smoc.88-89/Hays-2) to 11.2 (NS111-95/Ana). As half of the randomly selected genotypes exhibited high green plant regeneration ability and a high production of DH lines per spike, it can be concluded that in vitro anther culture can be successfully used in breeding programs for rapid production of homozygous wheat lines.