III.1. Further improvement in handling of lethal genetic stocks in barley.
T. Tsuchiya and T. E. Haus. Department of Agronomy, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, U.S.A.
An efficient method of handling genetic stocks for lethal, male sterile or other genes which should be kept in heterozygous conditions was reported in a previous article (Tsuchiya, BGN 2:120). This technique has been used continuously in 1972 and improved to some extent. The main changes are as follows:
1. Not only dehull the young kernels, but remove the thin membrane covering the embryo for both naked and covered varieties. If the seeds are hard because of late harvesting, they should be placed on wet blotting paper in germination boxes over night - then it becomes easy to remove the membrane.
2. Once the membrane is removed, there is no need to cut the endosperm.
All other procedures are the same as those in the previous report: The materials have been kept in the cold room for five to seven days and placed in the laboratory at room temperature following the cold treatment. Over two thousand seeds have been treated in this way during 1972. Germination in most cases was nearly 100%.
(Supported in part by NSF Research Grant GB30493 to T. Tsuchiya.)