ATTEMPTS TO TRANSFER PARAQUAT RESISTANCE FROM BARLEY GRASS (HORDEUM-GLAUCUM-STEUD) TO BARLEY AND WHEAT

A paraquat-resistant biotype of barley grass (Hordeum glaucum Steud.) was hybridized with barley and wheat in an attempt to transfer paraquat resistance to these crops. Although hybridizations with barley did not result in the production of a plant, cytological evidence of chromosome elimination of one parent, presumably of H. glaucum, was obtained from squash preparations of young F1 embryos. Hybridizations of wheat with both diploid and tetraploid H. glaucum resulted in the production of wheat haploids. These results indicate that it may not be possible to transfer paraquat resistance to barley and wheat using conventional hybridization techniques.