A Method of Transferring Genes from Tetraploid to Diploid Crested Wheatgrass1

Gene flow between diploid crested wheatgrass, Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn., and tetraploid crested wheatgrass, A. desertorum (Fisch. ex Link) Schult., largely “one‐way”, from diploid to tetraploid. A method is presented by which genes can be transferred from the tetraploids to the diploids via colchicine‐induced tetraploids. The procedure involves hybridizing natural‐tetraploid A. desertorum with induced‐tetraploid A. cristatum followed by repeated backcrossing to diploid A. cristatum. By using this procedure, a recessive gene for absence of anthocyanin pigments was transferred from tetraploid A. desertorum to diploid A. cristatum. This method can be used to transfer other genes from the genetically variable crested wheatgrass tetraploids to improve the genetic and breeding potentials of diploid A. cristatum. The same method may also apply to other species‐complexes with a ploidy series and one‐way gene flow, e.g., DacCylis g/omerata L.