NEW AMPHIDIPLOID WHEAT SPECIES (NOTHOSP. NOV.) AS A RESULT OF ARTIFICIAL HYBRIDISATION

The continuous growth of the demand of cereals and diversification of agricultural production is reason to seek new and high-yielding plant species. Remote hybridization and artificial polyploidisation are methods creating new species which combine the valuable properties of their parental forms and in some cases outmatch them. A large number of hybrids and amphidiploid forms in the genus Triticum are created and characterized with resistance to diseases, high yield potential and high adaptability under different growing conditions. Some of them are genetically stable in subsequent generations without sharp variation to the specific characteristics. Similar plant accessions exhibiting significant differences from their parental components as well as from other plant species in the same genus, furthermore in combination with their high genetic stability, should be separated as a new species within the genus Triticum. In studies on the morphology and physiology of three amphidiploid accessions (Triticum polonicum × Triticum boeoticum, Triticum durum × Triticum boeoticum, Triticum turanicum × Triticum timopheevii), for a period of three years (2011-2013) their stability, lack of sharp variations, high adaptability to growing conditions, high yield performance, resistance to diseases and tolerance to pests are established. As a result of their complex evaluation, the accessions are differentiated and described as a new species in the genus Triticum as follows: Triticum ×savovii H.P. Stoyanov nothosp. nov. (Triticum polonicum × Triticum boeoticum); Triticum ×spetsovii H.P. Stoyanov nothosp. nov. (Triticum durum × Triticum boeoticum); Triticum ×toschevii H.P. Stoyanov nothosp. nov. (Triticum turanicum × Triticum timopheevii). The described new species could be successfully introduced as grain cereals and used as initial material in winter wheat breeding programs.