NATURAL HYBRIDIZATION OF 

 WHEAT AND RYE IN RUSSIA 



G. K. Meisteri 

 Director of Saratov Experimental Station, Saratov, Russia 



IN 1918 at the Experimental Station 

 in Saratov, in southeastern Euro- 

 pean Russia, a truly extraordinary 

 phenomenon was witnessed of the 

 mass appearance of natural hybrids 

 (Fi) between wheat and rye, in a 

 number of plots of winter varieties of 

 wheat {Triticum vulgar e v. erythrosper- 

 mum, v. Hostianum and v. pyrothrix). 

 The number of these hybrids was not 

 the same in all plots. They were alto- 

 gether absent in some; in others they 

 were occasional; in still others their 

 number was considerable; while in the 

 plot No. 648, V. erythrospermum, 20% 

 of the plants were hybrids. Altogether 

 many thousands of natural wheat-rye 

 hybrids were observed. 



The plots in which a large number of 

 hybrids occurred are characterized by 

 early ripening, and if they do not 

 flower simultaneously with the rye, 

 the period of their blooming, at any 

 rate, partially coincides with the bloom- 

 ing of the rye. These varieties of 

 wheat have a considerable opening of 

 the flower glumes in blooming, which 

 facilitates natural hybridization. 



The climate of Saratov is continen- 

 tal and dry, with a precipitation of only 

 about 380 mm. The natural hybridi- 

 zation of wheat here is such a usual 

 event that in 1919, for example, we col- 

 lected over three hundred plants of 

 hybrids (Fi) between Triticum durum 

 V. hordeiforme and Triticum vulgare. 



It should be added here that 1917, 

 the year preceding the appearance of 

 the wheat-rye hybrids, was a particu- 

 larly dry year; and also that in order 



to avoid their cross-pollination, the 

 varieties of wheat were separated by 

 protecting rows of rye — in short, all 

 conditions favorable for the formation 

 of hybrids were present. 



The mass appearance of hybrids in 

 the plot No. 648 should be attributed 

 to the peculiar biological character of 

 this variety of wheat. This variety is 

 characterized in general by weak frost 

 resistance. The hybrids (F.), on the 

 other hand, so far as frost resistance is 

 concerned, are more like the rye. They 

 survive even in places where winter 

 wheat perishes entirely. This fact was 

 further attested by the behavior of the 

 hybrids in their later generations. 



We were successful in collecting a 

 considerable number of hybrids in 1919 

 and 1920, and in this way we have 

 assured the work with them also for the 

 future. 



From the botanical point of view, 

 the wheat-rye hybrids of the first 

 generation occupy an intermediate 

 position between Secale and Triticum, 

 in the majority of their features, with a 

 certain predominence of wheat proper- 

 ties. The general habit of the plant 

 is that of wheat rather than of rye, 

 but in the majority of the culms the 

 upper part of the peduncle just below 

 the base of the ear is hairy like rye. 



In literature on wheat-rye hybrids, 

 beginning with Rimpau descriptions 

 are given of the first generation (Fi) 

 of these plants so we shall not describe 

 them in this short note. 



Let us turn to the fertility of the 

 hybrids of the first generation : As was 



^ Translated from original manuscript in Russian by Prof. N. L Vavilov. 



Note: In reference to the natural hybridization of wheat and rye, which is the subject of 

 Mr. Meister's article, it will be of interest to recall that Dr. C. E. Leighty reported in the Journal 

 of Heredity for March 1920 that the season of 1917 at Arlington Farm (near Washington, D. C.) 

 seemed to be uncommonly favorable for cross pollination of cereal varieties, 19 natural wheat-rye 

 hybrids (Fi) being found in 1918, while cross pollinations between different varieties of wheat 

 occurred in unusual numbers; and likewise crosses between varieties of barley. — Editor. 



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