Barley Haploids Through Crosses with Hordeum Bulbosum - A situation analogous to somatic reduction occurs when in a interspecific or intergeneric hybrid, chromosomes of one parental genome are preferentially eliminated.

This method has been extensively utilized for production of haploids in barley and also in wheat. The production of haploids in barley in this manner involves interspecific hybridization of Hordeum vulgare (2n = 14) with H. bulbosum (2n = 14), a cross pollinated, self incompatible perennial species. Most progeny (95%) are barley haploids, remainder being diploid hybrids. A cross between 2x barley and 4x H. bulbosum mainly produces triploid hybrids.

(ii) these haploids can be obtained with any cultivated barley and would resemble cultivated barley genome in reciprocal crosses. Contrary to these observations, Lange (1971) showed that haploids obtained due to chromosome elimination are associated with hybrids.

With embryo culture technique, he was able to obtain viable hybrids from several cross combinations, although frequency of hybrids was low except in case of VBB hybrids, which were quite frequent.