Summary
To facilitate the introgression of desirable traits of Allium fistulosum into the genome of A. cepa, several accessions of the hybrid between these species were pollinated with A. cepa as the recurrent parent, and in vitro ovary and ovule culture were performed to obtain an increase in the recovery of backcross progeny. Compared to the results obtained from seed development in planta, the increase in the number of backcross progeny was generally very limited, and in some cases even a decrease was found. Raising the sucrose concentration in the ovary culture medium resulted in a higher frequency of ovules develo** back seed coats but this was not followed by an increase in the number of backcross progeny obtained. Pollen tube growth of A. cepa was disturbed in the styles of the interspecific hybrids. Per ovule, frequencies of micropylar penetration exceeded frequencies of backcross progeny only to a limited extent. Hence, it was concluded that in the tested interspecific hybrid accessions the attainable gain in viable backcross progeny by the application of in vitro culture techniques is limited by strong pre-fertilization barriers acting at the level of stylar incongruity.
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van der Valk, P., de Vries, S.E., Everink, J.T. et al. Pre- and post-fertilization barriers to backcrossing the interspecific hybrid between Allium fistulosum L. and A. cepa L. with A. cepa . Euphytica 53, 201–209 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00023272
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00023272