Cytology and Fertility of Derivatives of Agroelymus turneri

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Abstract
The reproductive characteristics and the nature of seed set after self and open pollinations was studied in Agroelymus turneri LePage, a putative hybrid of A. dasystachyum (Hook.) Scribn. x Elymus innovatus Beal. Populations derived from open pollination were classified into 3 groups: (a) uniformly similar to A. repens; (b) uniformly similar to A. canadensis; (c) segregated in plants similar to A. repens, A. dasystachyum and E. canadensis . Seed set in A. repens-like plants ranged from 0-7% following self-pollination, and from 23-72% at Madison, Wis. to 27-44% at Fort Saskatchewan, Canada, following open pollination. Elymus-like plants were 44% self-fertile; A. dasystachyum-like plants were 11% self-fertile and 35% cross-fertile. Seed was produced in some A. repens -like plants with low stainable pollen, but there was no evidence from studies of the developing female gametophyte to suggest that apomixis was responsible for this observation. Microsporocyte studies indicate prophase lethality as a cause of sporocyte elimination, but sporocytes progressing further than MI are quite regular in their meiotic divisions. It is suggested that the forms of sterility in this material may be due to unbalanced enzyme and amino acid synthesis brought about by the union of dissimilar gametes, and it may be related to the interaction of the nucleus with non-complimentary cytoplasm.