FERTILITY OF BARLEY AUTOTETRAPLOIDS: II. THE RELATIONSHIP OF ANEUPLOIDY, DWARFING AND FERTILITY IN FOUR AUTOTETRAPLOID BARLEY VARIETIES

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Abstract
A considerable number of dwarf plants (16.4 to 85.7 per cent) was found in C2 to C5 generations of four artificially-induced barley autotetraploids from the varieties OA.C. 21, Brant, York and Montcalm.The Montcalm tetraploid, which was the lowest in mean fertility, had the highest percentage of dwarfs. In the other three tetraploids there was no apparent relationship between the frequency of dwarfs and the mean per cent fertility. In the O.A.C. 21 tetraploid continuous selection for plants with high fertility did not reduce the occurrence of dwarfs.Most of the dwarf plants were aneuploids with 26, 27, 29, 30 or 31 chromosomes, but plants with identical number of chromosomes often showed differences in phenotype. Among the aneuploids 29-chromosome plants were most frequently found. The 26- and 31-chromosome plants were completely sterile. Only a low percentage of the other aneuploid plants produced seed. By considering the observed percentages of dwarf plants and the ratio of hypoploids to hyperploids produced, the largest part of sterility in the four barley autotetraploids could be attributed to irregular chromosome distribution.

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