Pollen Germination, Pollen Tube Growth and Crossability Studies in Wheat-Rye Crosses

Six wheat genotypes having different cross ability genes were crossed with two rye genotypes to study the pollen germination, pollen tube growth and seed set. The trend of pollen fall did not show much differences between selfings and crosses, but it seemed to have a direct correlation with seed set. The pollen germination was more in crosses than the selfings except in a few crosses. The pollen tube length had a direct correlation with seed set and the pollen tubes were quite long in the selfings. Among the crosses with rye, Chinese Spring had longer pollen tubes with better seed set. The rate of tube growth was faster at 4 hours after pollination in most cases. The frequencies of pollen tube abnormalities were more in the crosses than the selfings. Pollen fall and pollen tube growth had a highly significant positive association with seed set, while the pollen tube abnormalities had a highly significant negative relation with it