Agronomic performance of lines derived from anther culture, maize pollination and single-seed descent in a spring wheat cross

Anther culture and maize hybridization are two frequently used techniques f or doubled haploid production in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Information on the field performance of lines derived from these techniques is limited. This study was conducted to compare the performance of F-4:6 lines obtaine d by single-seed descent with lines obtained by anther culture and maize (Z ea mays L.) pollination from the same cross of spring wheat, 'Chris'/MN 752 9. Thirty-three Lines derived from each of those techniques were evaluated in six environments for grain yield, protein content, test weight, heading data, kernel weight and plant height. Mean performance of the single-seed d escent Lines exceeded performance of the anther culture Lines for grain yie ld, kernel weight and plant height with no apparent differences for grain p rotein content, test weight and heading date. No differences between trait means for the single-seed descent and maize pollination lines were found ex cept for plant height. The best 5 lines from each method for grain yield, p rotein content and test weight were similar in performance except that the protein content was higher for the maize pollination lines than for the sin gle-seed descent lines. Acceptable levels of agronomic performance could be found among lines from each method. Wide acceptance of the doubled haploid technique for pure line production in breeding programs may, however, be l imited by the often poor efficiency of doubled haploid line production, res ulting in smaller population sizes for selection of desirable traits in com parison to the single-seed descent method.