Like plant crossing. How to cross plants at home? The difference between cultural forms and wild ones

Growing plants at home is a very common hobby. But most hobbyists do not attach importance to the rules of caring for plants. Although this care takes very little time. And the result repays all the efforts expended. After all, if everything is done correctly, the plants will be healthy, grow well and delight with their appearance. Therefore, every nature lover who grows plants needs to know the answers to at least the main questions related to this activity.

How to cross plants? Crossing of plants is carried out in order to obtain a new variety with the characteristics necessary for the breeder. Therefore, the first step is to decide what qualities are desired in the new plant. Then a selection of parent plants is made, each of which has one or more of these dominant qualities. It makes sense to use plants that have grown in different regions- this makes their heredity richer. But still, before you start breeding, you should still familiarize yourself with specialized literature, for example, with a description of the working methods of I.V. Michurin.

How to save a plant? There are times when a plant begins to die for some reason. The first sign is usually a painful condition of the leaves. Then you need to check the condition of the stem. If it has become too soft, brittle or rotten, then there is hope that the roots are healthy. But if they also deteriorate, it means that the plant has died. In other cases, you can try to save him. To do this you will have to cut off the damaged part. But the stems are not completely cut off, leaving at least a few centimeters above the ground. Then you need to place the plant so as to halve the amount of solar time it receives and water it moderately when the soil is completely dry. Such measures will help the plant fight the disease and new shoots will appear in a few months.

How to care for indoor plants? To keep your plants healthy and looking beautiful, you need to follow a few mandatory rules. First, you need to water them properly. You can’t overwater the plant; it’s better to underwater it. This should be done when the soil is dry. The water should be at room temperature. It must be remembered that tropical plants They also require daily spraying. To others, an important condition for plant life, is lighting. You should definitely find out what lighting intensity and duration is required for the plant and provide it with the necessary conditions. Temperature is the third factor important for the life and health of plants. Suitable for most of them room temperature. But some species in colder regions need lower temperatures in winter. This can be achieved by placing the flower on a glazed balcony.

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It is known that the vast majority of plants and animals reproduce sexually. Their seed offspring arises only as a result of fertilization - the fusion of male and female reproductive cells, giving rise to new organisms.
In contrast to the vegetative method of reproduction (by tubers, cuttings, buds, etc.), in which growing organisms continue their development from the stage to which the development of the tissue of the mother bush taken for their production has reached, during sexual reproduction the fertilized egg - the zygote - produces the beginning of a new plant beginning its development all over again.
The process of fertilization has enormous biological significance, since thanks to it, developing new organisms acquire dual heredity - maternal and paternal, and as a result, greater vitality, which manifests itself in their better adaptability to various environmental conditions.
According to Lysenko, the biological role of the fertilization process is that by combining the female and male reproductive cells, which differ to a certain extent in their hereditary properties, into one cell and merging their two nuclei into one nucleus, the inconsistency of the living body is created, which is the cause of self-development, self-motion, etc. i.e. the life process with its inherent metabolism.
Artificial crossing different varieties plants and animal breeds is widely used in breeding practice.
The decisive moments in the development of new highly productive varieties of plants and animal breeds from the standpoint of materialistic Michurin biology are the intelligent and skillful selection for crossing of the original parental pairs and the further control of the emerging nature of the hybrid offspring by regulating living conditions.

Through many years of persistent practical work, which has a deeply substantiated foundation, I. V. Michurin consistently, step by step, built his theory of sexual hybridization. This theory refutes the main provisions of supporters of formal genetic science, who assert the independence of the heredity of organisms from their living conditions and propagandize “Mendel’s notorious pea laws,” the use of which in the selection of perennial crops, as Ivan Vladimirovich wrote, is not worth even dreaming of. He sharply condemned those who worked according to the principle: “Rash, mix, chat, maybe something else will come out.” In contrast, I. V. Michurin’s motto reads: “We cannot expect favors from nature: taking them from her is our task.”
Objecting to the views on heredity expressed by supporters of formal genetic “science,” he more than once argued that when the same initial parent pairs are repeatedly crossed, their successive offspring will never produce the same number of hybrids, which would always be strictly dominant. certain signs father or mother according to Mendelian law 3:1. In all cases of crossing the same parental pairs, the resulting plants are not identical in their morphological and biological characteristics, because the inheritance of parental characteristics depends both on the selection of crossed varieties and on many other reasons.
Correct selection parental pairs is impossible without knowledge of the biological laws of inheritance by hybrid offspring of the characteristics and properties of the parents and the presence of deep relationships between the emerging nature of plant organisms and the conditions of their upbringing, established by I. V. Michurin, T. D. Lysenko and their followers.
1. In order to obtain a new variety with the desired qualities, it is necessary first of all to select for crossing those plants that have economically valuable traits that correspond to the breeding task.
I.V: Michurin has repeatedly emphasized the idea that modern breeders, as a rule, have no need to go through again the path traveled before them; Due to the presence of heredity in organisms, they must benefit from the results of the work of many generations of their predecessors.
Luther Burbank also pursued the same idea in his writings. He figuratively compared the choice of plants to cross with the work of an architect. How does an architect select construction material, corresponding ideological plan future building, and the breeder plans to cross plant forms that have the characteristics that he wants to see in the future variety. At the same time, the breeder has at his disposal an incomparably richer and more varied material that he can use to implement his plan than the amount of minerals or wood species known to the architect.
When developing new varieties, as T. D. Lysenko points out, it is very important to select the initial forms according to the principle of having the least amount of negative qualities, which could limit, under these specific conditions, development in the offspring best features and properties of parents.
2. I.V. Michurin attached great importance to the varietal and individual history of maternal and paternal plants, since knowledge of it allows us to foresee the possible nature of the inheritance of characteristics of parental forms by hybrid offspring.
“The most energetic ability to transmit their properties,” Ivan Vladimirovich pointed out, “is, firstly, possessed by all plants pure species growing in the wild, secondly, all old cultivated varieties of plants are distinguished by greater energy, and the weakest in this regard should be considered the recently bred young varieties of fruit trees and berry bushes" *.

* I. V. Michurin, Selected Works, 1948, p. 69.

Dominance of traits wild plants when crossing them with cultural ones, this is due to the presence in them of significantly more conservative heredity than in cultural forms that were later formed in the process of human activity.
Even Charles Darwin noted that plants and animals common in natural conditions do not exhibit such sharp and sudden changes as are known in domesticated animals and cultivated plants. It must be assumed that the very fact of cultivation, i.e. the movement of plants from natural conditions to new - artificial ones, and their cultivation for many generations under the influence of certain methods of agricultural technology and phytotechnics contributes to the formation of a more plastic heredity in them and a more active reaction to change. environmental conditions than in wild forms.
3. To obtain hybrid offspring with plastic heredity, capable of being most amenable to directed education and providing the richest variety of forms for subsequent selection, I. V. Michurin recommended using geographically and genetically distant crossing.
As a rule, during distant (interspecific or intergeneric) hybridization, the resulting hybrid offspring relatively easily adapts to the living conditions that are provided to it.
On the big practical material I. V. Michurin proved the possibility of crossing distantly related forms of plants and widely used distant hybridization in his practical work when breeding famous varieties: apple trees - Bellefleur-Chinese, Kandil-Chinese (hybrids between domestic and Chinese apple trees), Bellefleur red, Bellefleur record (hybrids between domestic apple tree and Nedzvetsky apple tree), Taiga (hybrid between Kandil-Chinese and Siberian apple tree); pears - Bere winter Michurina, Tolstobezhka, Rakovka (hybrids between the common cultivated pear and the Ussuri pear); cherries - Beauty of the North, Bastard of cherries (cherry-cherry hybrids); new plants - cerapadus (hybrids of steppe cherry with Japanese bird cherry); plums - Transparent yellow (hybrid of plum with apricot), Rencloud blackthorn, Sweet sloe (hybrids of plum with wild thorn); grapes - Russian Concord, Metallic, Buitur (hybrids between American and Amur species), Korinka Michurina (hybrid between Amur and cultural species grapes). Its varieties are also known - hybrids of rowan with medlar, rowan with hawthorn, raspberry with blackberry, etc.
The method of distant hybridization has found wide application in the work of Soviet breeders, as it opens up great opportunities for obtaining new forms of useful plants.
Plants that are distant in relationship may also be distant in geographical origin and in the environmental conditions in which each of them was formed.
Crossing geographically distant plants and raising their hybrid offspring should preferably be carried out in new natural conditions, alien to both maternal and paternal parents. In this case, according to Michurin’s teaching, those conditions that are necessary for a strong manifestation of the characteristics of the closest ancestors in the offspring are excluded. A classic example of the practical use of this provision is the production by I.V. Michurin in the conditions of the Tambov region of a new high-quality winter pear variety, Bere winter Michurina.
For a long time he was unable to obtain a new variety of pear with fruits of good taste, suitable for long-term winter storage. For this purpose, he carried out numerous crosses of high-quality Western European winter pear varieties (Bere Dil, Bere Clerzho, Bere Ligelya, Saint-Germain) with local varieties (Tonkovetka, Tsarskaya, Bessemyanka). However, the grown seedlings did not have the desired property due to dominance in the offspring early date fruit ripening characteristic of local pear varieties. Only by crossing the Italian pear variety Bere Royal with a young, first-blooming seedling of the Ussuri pear (the homeland of this type of pear is the Far East) did he obtain hybrids with fruits of summer, autumn and winter ripening. One of them turned out to be especially valuable, since it inherited best properties both parents - the frost resistance inherent in the Ussuri pear, and the size of the fruits, their excellent dessert taste, as well as the ability for long-term storage in fresh, inherent in the Bere Royal variety.
4. Based on many years of experiments and observations, I. V. Michurin discovered another important pattern: in the process of crossing varieties that are equivalent in the sense of conservatism of heredity, the maternal organism, being a natural mentor, as a rule, more fully transmits its characteristics and properties to the offspring than the paternal one .
Guided by this pattern, Soviet breeders, when carrying out crosses in the role of the maternal parent, often select the plant whose economically valuable traits and properties are desirable to be seen in the offspring. If there is a need to weaken the individual strength of the hereditary transmission of the maternal parent, then it is necessary to select a young seedling, flowering for the first time, with heredity already shaken by preliminary hybridization, as the mother.
5. Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin is the first breeder to use a mixture of pollen of different varieties for crossing. True, he used the pollen mixture method, mainly in order to overcome non-crossability during the hybridization of plants that were distant in relationship, but his followers proved the advisability of using a pollen mixture of a number of varieties in ordinary crossings.
Darwin also noted that crossing individuals who were exposed to various conditions during the life of previous generations has a beneficial effect on the offspring, since in this case their germ cells are differentiated to one degree or another. When flowers self-pollinate, such differentiation of sexual elements is not observed, so its effect on the offspring is unfavorable.
This observation served as the basis for another important conclusion of Charles Darwin about the presence of obligatory selectivity of plant sexual elements in natural conditions. I. V. Michurin and T. D. Lysenko developed Darwin’s thesis about the presence of selectivity in plant fertilization and proved that the inheritance of parental characteristics by offspring during artificial hybridization is highly dependent on the selective nature of the fertilization process, and this dependence is of a dual nature.
Not every pollen grain biologically corresponds to a specific egg, therefore, the more pollen grains of different varieties are applied during pollination on the stigma of a castrated flower, the greater the opportunity given to the mother plant to choose the most acceptable of them. Numerous experiments by Michurinites have proven that if there is a large selection of pollen from flowers, fertilization occurs more actively, the seeds that set turn out to be much more viable and richer in nutrients, and the plants that grow from them are more productive.
In addition, when pollinated with a mixture of pollen, as a result of the interaction of pollen grains of different varieties, a qualitatively new physiological environment is created, more favorable than with conventional pollination.
I.V. Michurin drew the attention of breeders to the other side of this process. It is not always the case that with artificial hybridization one should expect to obtain relatively more viable offspring. After all, biologically incompatible plants are often used as parents, the crossing of which is forced. For example, distant hybridization sometimes produces plants that are incapable of building even the most vital organs. However, T.D. Lysenko emphasizes that the selective ability of plants must be used to obtain sharp changes in heredity through forced crossing with those individuals whose pollen would not be selected by the maternal organism under natural conditions.
In this area, Michurin's agrobiological science puts forward new, not yet resolved problems that are of important theoretical significance.
For practical breeding work, the pollen mixture for crossing is selected according to the same principles noted earlier, i.e., the selection task, the economically valuable qualities of the parent varieties (including several paternal varieties), their biological characteristics and history of origin are taken into account.
6. It is not always possible for a breeder to obtain hybrid offspring with the desired characteristics by means of a single crossing of parental pairs pre-selected taking into account the indicated patterns of dominance of heredity. To achieve your goal, it is sometimes useful to resort to re-crossing the best of the resulting hybrid plants with one of the parents or with some other variety that has the desired qualities.
Attaching exceptional importance to the re-crossing of the first hybrid generation fruit crops received in middle lane Russia, with southern varieties, I.V. Michurin persistently pointed out to breeders: “Next, the most essential thing in the development of new varieties fruit plants we must consider a third method - the method of re-crossing hybrids with the best cultivated (and foreign) varieties... Here we will, in most cases, get a significant overall improvement both from the influence of the variety introduced into the cross with new good properties, and from the easier susceptibility of the hybrid to its at a young age and, moreover, also rooted” *.

* I. V. Michurin, Soch., vol. 1, 1948, pp. 496-498.

At the same time, he warned against using seedlings of the second or even third generation from natural pollination in harsh climatic conditions, because the new forms obtained in this way deviate mainly for the worse due to the repeated negative influence of local environmental factors on the dominance of the characteristics of the parents.
The patterns of dominance of plant heredity established by I.V. Michurin, T.D. Lysenko and their students also apply to the culture of grapevines.
Long-term research carried out by the Department of Selection and Variety Study of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking named after. Tairov (P.K. Ayvazyan) established that in the first and second seed offspring of sexual hybrids there is a rather complex pattern of inheritance of the characteristics of the parents. In some seedlings, the traits of one parent may predominate, in others - of the other, in others - intermediate inheritance of traits may occur, and, finally, there are known cases when completely new traits and properties appear in the hybrid offspring that were completely absent in the original parental pairs.
As a rule, the most constant in terms of heredity are the wild-growing forms of pure species: Vitis Riparia, Vitis Rupestris, Vitis Labrusca, Vitis Amurenzis, etc., therefore, during interspecific hybridization of grapes, the seedlings of the first offspring obtained from crossing cultivated grapes with American wild species and rootstock varieties and grown under normal agrotechnical conditions, predominantly inherit the characteristics of wild parents. At the same time, most of the plants, which have deviated by morphological characteristics towards wild forms, inherit from the mother plants (European varieties) instability to mildew and low frost resistance, and from the father varieties (wild forms) - low harvest quality. Seedlings that are similar in morphological characteristics to cultivated varieties are inferior in harvest quality to the mother cultivated variety.
A small number of interspecific hybrids with practical resistance to mildew and frost are close to wild species in their morphological characteristics (shoots and leaves), as well as in the quantity and quality of the harvest. Such seedlings are of interest for repeated and vegetative hybridization.
Research has also shown that during interspecific hybridization it is best to take ancient indigenous grape varieties with good quality harvest. Such varieties, formed in local conditions and having more stable heredity, more easily transmit their characteristics and properties to hybrid offspring than introduced varieties.
In the hybrid progeny obtained from repeated crossings of interspecific hybrids with high-quality varieties, as one would expect, a significant part of the seedlings are wild forms. Receiving in this case too large quantity seedlings deviating in their characteristics from cultivated plants can be explained by the fact that wild varieties took part in the origin of one of the parents, which, due to their long existence, are distinguished by their exceptional ability to preserve their hereditary properties.
Within the same hybrid combination, under the same environmental conditions, the variety more fully transmits its characteristics and properties to the offspring (yield, bush growth vigor, size of bunches and berries, color of berries and juice, harvest quality, plant resistance to unfavorable conditions and others) if it is taken as a mother plant. By providing the hybrid embryo at its youngest age, starting from the moment of formation of the zygote, with the necessary nutrients, the maternal body as a mentor accordingly influences the formation of the heredity of the offspring.
The correct selection of initial parental varieties for crossing is only the first stage of breeding work, ending with the production of hybrid seeds. The subsequent process of formation of the heredity of seedlings is a very complex biological phenomenon, occurring under the influence of environmental conditions and often accompanied by the manifestation of a number of profound changes in them.

How to cross plants? Crossing of plants is carried out in order to obtain a new variety with the characteristics necessary for the breeder. Therefore, the first step is to decide what qualities are desired in the new plant. Then a selection of parent plants is made, each of which has one or more of these dominant qualities. It makes sense to use plants that grew in different regions - this makes their heredity richer. But still, before you start breeding, you should still familiarize yourself with specialized literature, for example, with a description of the working methods of I.V. Michurin.

How to care for indoor plants? To keep plants healthy and looking beautiful, you need to follow several mandatory rules. First, you need to water them properly. You can’t overwater the plant; it’s better to underwater it. This should be done when the soil is dry. The water should be at room temperature. It must be remembered that tropical plants also require daily spraying. Another important condition for plant life is lighting. You should definitely find out what lighting intensity and duration is required for the plant and provide the necessary conditions for it. Temperature is the third factor important for the life and health of plants. Most of them are suitable at room temperature. But some species in colder regions need lower temperatures in winter. This can be achieved by placing the flower on a glazed balcony.

Oleg asks
Answered by Elena Titova, 12/01/2013

Oleg asks: “Hello, Elena! Please tell me, is the crossing of different types of plants, vegetables and fruits by scientists not an interference in God’s creation and a sin? Doesn’t successful such crossings jeopardize Creationism? After all, if you manage to cross different plants, then with Over time, it will be possible to cross different animals, a cat with a dog, for example. So, is there a possibility that from one simpler living creature a more complex one emerged, and so on until the appearance of man?”

Greetings, Oleg!

Scientists-breeders mainly carry out intraspecific crossings (hybridization) to produce desirable traits (for humans, of course) in animals, plants and microorganisms, thereby achieving the creation of new or improved breeds, varieties, strains.

Within a species, crossing of individuals is relatively easy due to the similarity of their genetic material and anatomical and physiological characteristics. Although this is not always the case, for example, under natural conditions it is impossible to cross a tiny Chihuahua dog and a huge mastiff.

But already on the way of crossing individuals different types(and even more so of different genera), molecular genetic barriers arise that prevent the development of full-fledged organisms. And they are more pronounced the further the species and genera being crossed are separated from each other. Due to significantly different genomes of the parents, hybrids may develop unbalanced sets of chromosomes, unfavorable combinations of genes, the processes of cell division and formation of gametes (sex cells) may be disrupted, the death of the zygote (fertilized egg), etc. may occur. Hybrids may be partially or completely sterile (sterile) ), with reduced viability up to lethality (although in some cases in the first generation there is a sharp increase in viability - heterosis), developmental anomalies may appear, in particular, reproductive organs, or so-called chimeric tissues (genetically heterogeneous), etc. Apparently, this is why the Lord warned His people: “... do not mix your cattle with another breed; do not sow your field with two kinds [of seeds]” ().

Under natural conditions, cases of interspecific crossing are extremely rare.

Examples of artificial distant hybridization are: mule (horse + donkey), bester (beluga + sterlet), liger (lion + tigress), tigon (tiger + lioness), leopon (lion + female leopard), plumcat (plum + apricot), clementine (orange + tangerine), etc. In some cases, scientists manage to remove Negative consequences distant hybridization, for example, produced fertile hybrids of wheat and rye (triticale), radish and cabbage (rafabrassica).

And now your questions. Is artificial hybridization interfering with God's creation? In a certain sense, yes, if a person creates an option that is different from natural, which can be compared, say, with women using decorative cosmetics to improve their appearance. Is artificial hybridization a sin? Is eating meat a sin? The Lord, out of our hardness of heart, allows the killing of living beings for food. Probably, also due to our hardness of heart, he allows selective experimentation for the sake of improvement consumer properties products people need. In the same row is the creation medicines(in this case, laboratory animals are used and killed). As sad as it may be, all this is the reality of a society where sin reigns and the “prince of this world” rules.

Do successful crossbreeding jeopardize creationism? Not in any way. Against.

You know that everything reproduces “according to its kind.” There is no biblical "genus" biological species modern taxonomy. After all, a rich diversity of species appeared after the Flood as a result of the variability that occurred in the characteristics of land organisms from Noah’s Ark and aquatic inhabitants that survived outside the Ark, as they adapted to new environmental conditions. It is difficult to delineate a biblical “genus,” the genetic potential of which is significant and was given initially at creation. It may include modern taxa such as species and genus, but probably not higher than (sub)family. It is possible, for example, that the big cats of the modern systematic genera of the cat family go back to one original “genus”, and the small cats to one or two others. It is clear that the species and genera separated from the biblical “genus” include their own, to some extent, depleted and altered (in relation to the original) genetic material. The combination of these not entirely complementary parts (in interspecific and intergeneric crosses) encounters obstacles at the molecular genetic level, which means it does not allow the formation of a full-fledged organism, although in rare cases this can happen within the biblical “genus”.

What does this mean? That in principle there can be no crossings between “cats and dogs” and “up to humans.”

One more moment. Compare 580 thousand nucleotide pairs, 482 genes in the DNA of a single-cell mycoplasma and 3.2 billion nucleotide pairs, about 30 thousand genes in human DNA. If you imagine a hypothetical path “from amoeba to man,” think about where the new genetic information came from? There is nowhere for it to come from naturally. We know that information only comes from an intelligent source. So who is the Author of amoeba and man?

God's blessings!

Read more on the topic "Creation":

Centaurs in the plant world. Achievements of Russian, European and American scientists. How the plum and everyone's favorite strawberry appeared.

Creation of new varieties of wheat. The main achievement of Russian scientists is cabbage radish.

Another, no less ancient way of obtaining new varieties of plants and animal breeds is crossing, or, as scientists say, hybridization between different species. Imagine that an agronomist has two plants in his hands, each of which has some useful properties. Naturally, the idea of getting one plant that would combine the characteristics of both of them looks very tempting. How to implement this idea? Of course, cross both of these plants with each other. People began to use this technique back in ancient times, at first unconsciously - simply by selecting natural hybrids that arise from time to time in nature, then by purposefully crossing different shapes. There are a lot of examples of this. Take, for example, such a well-known cultivated plant as the plum. Probably few of you know that in wildlife there is no such type of plant. Plum - this is a hybrid that arose as a result of the natural hybridization of two other species - sloe and cherry plum, and combines the properties of both plants. In the Caucasus Mountains, wild hybrids of these species can sometimes be found. The common cherry is also the result of interspecific hybridization in nature. It appeared in ancient times from the crossing of sweet cherries with steppe cherries - an unsightly shrub not exceeding 1-2 meters in height.

But, as you know, people are very rarely satisfied only with what nature gives them. Very quickly they learned to cross various wild plant species themselves, resulting in hybrids that nature had never known before. Let's list just a few examples. Yes, everyone's favorite garden strawberries(we often incorrectly call it strawberry) came from the hybridization of two wild species of strawberries - Chilean and Virginia. And although her ancestors come from America, she was bred in Europe. The American breeder Burbank widely used interspecific hybridization. Perhaps one of his most remarkable achievements was the creation of a four-species hybrid of the dwarf edible early chestnut, which produces fruit already in the second year after sowing.

The creation of so-called short-stem wheat by the American geneticist N. Borlaug became a real sensation in its time. A researcher accidentally discovered in a US wheat collection an extremely low-growing wheat that had long been grown in India. Having a short stem is a very important quality for a grain crop - otherwise most of the nutrients go to stem growth rather than to grain formation. So it turned out: there was a lot of straw, but not much grain. Borlaug crossed this wheat with another dwarf form - this time Japanese (as many as three dwarf genes were found in it). Based on these two forms, the American breeder managed to develop several excellent dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties of wheat, which are now widely grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the globe. Only thanks to this achievement of genetics and selection was it possible to increase grain yields by two, and in some places even three times!

Extremely difficult, but successfully completed, was the work of English breeders to hybridize a wild diploid species of blackberry with a tetraploid cultivated blackberry, which was unusually different delicious fruits, but extremely late ripening. At first, the researchers were lucky: they accidentally found blackberries without thorns. But, despite numerous efforts to cross these two species, only four hybrid seedlings were obtained and, alas, all with thorns. Among other things, three of them were triploid (that is, with triple sets of chromosomes) and, accordingly, did not produce seeds. But the last seedling delighted scientists - it turned out to be a fruit-bearing tetraploid. When they waited for fruiting, sowed and raised new offspring, it was discovered that 37 plants were without thorns, and 835 bore thorns. One of the first ones was selected and crossed with a thorny cultivated variety. In the new offspring, for every three plants with thorns, there was one without thorns. Of the thornless plants, breeders liked only one plant - it became the ancestor of the famous English variety Merton Thorne Loess.

However, the creation of real plant “centaurs” - hybrids between plants belonging not only to different species, but also to different genera is rightfully considered a true masterpiece of selection. The most famous of these experiments are the works of the Russian breeder G.D. Karpechenko. As a result of a genetic experiment conducted by a researcher, a new plant was born - cabbage radish. Half cabbage and half radish fruits swayed on its shoots. Let's take a closer look at the history of its creation.

Every breeder who has tried to cross different types of plants knows that the most difficult thing is not to get a new one. hybrid . and ensure that it begins to produce seeds. After all, if the new variety cannot reproduce, all the work will be in vain - the resulting plant will die sooner or later, leaving no descendants. Why are fertile hybrids so rare? To answer this question, we will once again have to turn to the mechanism of formation of sex cells - gametes. Let us remember that each gamete, both male and female, arises as a result of a special process of cell division called meiosis. During meiosis, the number of chromosomes in cells decreases, so gametes carry exactly half as many chromosomes as the cells of the parent organism. But at the very beginning of meiosis, another very important event occurs - paired or, as scientists say, homologous chromosomes press tightly against each other and exchange pieces of DNA with each other. What will happen if the chromosomes “do not recognize” each other and cannot exchange genes? But nothing - normal gametes will not be able to arise.

Now let's imagine hybrid . resulting from the crossing of two different species of plants or animals. Each chromosome of a pair of homologous chromosomes in its cells comes from a different organism. In the case of cabbage and radish, for each “cabbage” chromosome there is one “radish” chromosome - both of these plants carry 9 chromosomes in their germ cells. But cabbage genes have nothing in common with radish genes (these plants generally belong to different biological genera). This means that even if it is possible to obtain a hybrid plant (for example, by “forcibly” pollinating cabbage flowers with radish pollen), the chromosomes will not “recognize” each other, and the hybrids will not be capable of reproduction.

Is there really no way to get a hybrid capable of reproduction? As you know, there are no hopeless situations. After all, no one said that hybrid plants do not produce gametes at all - no, they still appear, but they do not carry a strictly defined number of chromosomes (9, as cabbage and radishes should), but a random one, for example, 5 or 8. This means there is a very small probability that a gamete with 18 chromosomes will appear - 9 cabbage and 9 rare chromosomes will end up in one cell. From the mass of crosses between cabbage and radish that ended in failure, in one case Karpechenko received a plant that grew and even bloomed, after which a single seed began to sprout. This was the one Lucky case: All 18 chromosomes end up in one gamete.

An unusual gamete accidentally met with a gamete that also carried 18 chromosomes, and as a result a plant with 36 chromosomes grew, that is, the usual single set of 9 chromosomes was repeated 4 times (we already know that such plants are usually called tetraploids). Thus, here we are again faced with the already familiar phenomenon of polyploidy - an increase in the number of chromosomes. Cell division and the formation of gametes in this hybrid went well - each of the nine rare chromosomes now found a pair, the same thing happened with the cabbage chromosomes. Such organisms produced offspring. When the first hybrid plant grew from a seed, its nature was revealed in the most amazing way: half of the fruits turned out to be cabbage, and the other half - radish. Cabbage radish fully lived up to its name. But Karpechenko did not stop there. He combined the gamete of the resulting hybrid with a normal rare gamete. Now there were twice as many rare chromosomes as cabbage chromosomes, which immediately affected the fruits: two thirds of each fruit had a rare form and only one third had a cabbage form. Thus, thanks to polyploidy, they were able for the first time to overcome the natural uncrossability of two different genera.

The list of plant “centaurs” is not at all limited to cabbage-radish hybrids. Thus, as a result of crossing two grain crops - rye and wheat - scientists obtained a number of forms, united by the common name triticale. Triticale has good yield, winter hardiness and is resistant to many wheat diseases. Thanks to hybridization wheat and malicious field weed- wheatgrass - breeders have obtained valuable plant varieties - wheat-wheatgrass hybrids that are resistant to lodging and have high yield. Another famous Russian breeder, I.V. Michurin, crossed Pennsylvania cherry (a very frost-resistant species, unlike the usual cherry) with bird cherry and synthesized a new plant, which he called cerapadus. Only much later was it discovered that cerapaduses spontaneously arise in the Pamirs, but in a slightly different way.

Purpose: To study the possibilities of conducting hybridological analysis on the pea plant (Pisum sativum L.).

To conduct a hybridological analysis during summer field practice, you can use varieties (lines) of different plant species, but better - those of economic importance, taking into account the climatic conditions of the area. For crossing, genetic collections of cultivated plants are usually used: a genetic collection of mutant intraspecific forms, pure lines, varieties. Pure (homozygous) lines are available in cultivated peas, corn, tomatoes, wheat, rye, barley, lupine, etc.

The best object for crossing is pea (Pisum sativum L., 2n=14). The plant is self-pollinating; cross-pollination occurs rarely. Flowers with bracts, bisexual, five-petalled. The flower consists of a sail, two wings and two fused petals - a boat (Fig. 1,2). The pistil is simple, composed of one carpel. The pistil style is flattened and curved almost at a right angle upward, the ovary is superior. The flower has 10 stamens, 9 of them (rarely all 10) grow together with threads into a tube, and one stamen is free.

The flowering period of peas is up to two weeks; depending on the variety and weather conditions, this period can last from 3 to 40 days. Self-pollination occurs in the bud before the flower opens. Ripe anthers usually crack in the bud and pollen collects at the top of the boat, landing on the stigma as the pistil grows.

The flowers open sequentially from bottom to top, the lower flowers bloom first. Before planting, peas are carefully prepared. The seeding depth is 5-7 cm, the distance between plants is about 10-12 cm, between rows is about 20 cm.

Crossbreeding technique. It consists of the following operations: preparing the inflorescence for crossing, castration of flowers and pollination.

Progress. The main point of crossing on peas is flower castration - the removal of anthers from the flower of the mother plant before they ripen. Castration is usually carried out in the budding phase (light green buds).

It is advisable to pollinate the castrated flower of the mother plant with freshly collected pollen or use pollen from the plucked paternal flower. For pollination, pollen is taken from a newly opened flower of the parent plant.

A few days after pollination, when the beans begin to form, the insulators are removed. Seeds that ripen in beans in the year of crossing are already first-generation hybrids (), and one can observe the dominance of one of the characteristics (in the shape or color of the seeds).

1. Husk the beans from the mother variety plant, count the number of seeds; make sure all seeds are yellow in color.

2. Husk the beans from the plant of the paternal variety, count the number of seeds; make sure all seeds are green in color.

3. Husk the beans of three plants with the seeds of the first generation (); make sure that all the seeds are yellow in color and count the number of seeds obtained. Determine which color (yellow or green) is dominant and which is recessive.

4. Hull the beans of 10 pea plants with second generation seeds (), count the number of yellow and green seeds, and calculate the ratio between them. Then calculate the theoretically expected ratio of yellow to green seeds. It is better to write the data in a table (Table 1).

Table 1

Hybridological analysis of monohybrid crossing of peas

Analyzed plants	Seeds received	Split
Parental varieties and hybrids		Including	Theoretically expected	Actually received

Inexhaustible 195
> Moskovsky 559


(general analysis data obtained by the entire group of students)

The table contains all the data on the analysis of splitting in hybrids and obtained by all students. It should be borne in mind that the more seeds obtained, the better the actual splitting data agrees with the theoretically expected splitting.

Hybridological analysis of peas during dihybrid crossing

Dihybrid is a cross in which the parent forms differ from each other in two pairs of alternative traits being studied. In hybrids, the inheritance of only two pairs of traits or two pairs of genes that determine their development is analyzed.

For hybridological analysis when carrying out dihybrid crossing, we took pea varieties already recommended for monohybrid crossing: “Moskovsky 558”, which has smooth green seeds, and “Inexhaustible 195” with wrinkled yellow seeds. . The seeds of the first generation hybrids were smooth and yellow.

When analyzing the nature of splitting by color and shape of pea seeds, the following tasks were performed:

Husk the seeds from the beans of 5 or more mother plants of the “Inexhaustible 195” variety, count the number of seeds and make sure that they are all yellow and wrinkled;

Husk the seeds of 5 or more parent plants of the “Moscow 559” variety, they should all be smooth and green;

Hull the seeds of the hybrids; they should all be yellow and smooth. Determine which traits are dominant and which are recessive;

Hull the seeds and distribute them into four phenotypic classes based on the combination of seed color and shape: yellow smooth, yellow wrinkled, green smooth and green wrinkled;

To determine the nature of inheritance of each pair of characters (alleles) in a dihybrid, it is necessary to calculate the splitting for each of them separately: into yellow-green and smooth-wrinkled - it should be 3:1. As follows from Table 4, the ratio of yellow to green seeds is 1075:365, or 2.94:1, close to 3:1. This means that the characteristics of color and seed shape in peas are inherited independently.

Table 4

Hybrid seeds in color and shape form 4 phenotypic classes in the following quantitative ratios: approximately all seeds obtained will be smooth yellow (A-B-), - yellow wrinkled (A- bb), - green smooth (aa B-) and - green wrinkled (aa bb), or close to the ratio 9:3:3:1.

Crossbreeding technique for cereals (wheat and rye)

Wheat (Triticum L.) is a genus of herbaceous proterogynic plants. In cultivation, mainly varieties of soft (6p=42) and durum (4p=28) wheat are cultivated.

The inflorescence of wheat is a complex spike, consisting of identical 3-7 flowering spikelets, sitting in the recesses of the spike shaft. The wheat flower has 3 stamens and a two-lobed stigma. Crossing begins with castration of the flower of the female plants.

When pollinating, cracked anthers are either placed in castrated mother flowers, or pollen is applied directly to the stigma with tweezers, a brush or a flat thin stick. Pollen application is more reliable

Method of crossbreeding in apple trees

Apple tree (Malus Mill) is a genus of plants in the rose family (Rosaceae). The genus includes 36 species. The most widespread is the domestic or cultivated apple tree. Most of the varieties are diploid (2n=34), about a quarter of the varieties are triploid (3n=51), and a few varieties are tetraploid (4n=68).

Flower structure. The flowers of the apple tree are collected in umbrella-shaped inflorescences (Fig. 6). The flower is large, white, pink on the outside. There are many stamens. Pistil with five columns fused at the base. Anthers yellow. The calyx is five-parted. Ovary inferior, five-locular; each nest contains 4-6 ovules. The apple tree blooms from April to June, depending on the zone. The stigma ripens before the anthers, which guarantees cross-pollination by bees and bumblebees. Flowering duration is 8-12 days.

Pollination technique. 2-3 buds are left on the flower, the rest are removed. They leave buds that have reached their final size, the petals of which have not yet begun to move apart. Carefully push the petals apart with tweezers, grab the upper part of the stamen filament with the anther and remove. It is better to remove one anther at a time so as not to damage the stigma of the pistil. Place a general insulator on castrated buds.

Pollen for pollination can be prepared on the day of castration. Collect the buds of the paternal variety plant that have just begun to bloom into a paper bag. In an apple tree, pollen from one bud is enough to pollinate 5-10 flowers.

Estimation of plant fertility from pollen grains

In higher flowering plants, the gametophyte is reduced and reduced to the formation of the embryo sac (macrosporogenesis) and pollen germination (microsporogenesis). The formation of microspores occurs in microsporangia. Mature microspores in seed plants are called pollen; they are a collection of pollen grains - dust particles that serve for sexual reproduction. Analysis of microsporogenesis, as well as the morphology of mature pollen grains, allows us to assess the level of plant fertility. This is especially important when studying the genetic control of fertility, when identifying CMS in plants, hybridization and polyploidy.

Disturbances in pollen morphology, a sharp decrease in its quantity in anthers, and impaired germination may be the result of various genetic reasons.

Exist special methods analysis of plant fertility based on the germination of pollen grains. In nature, pollen, falling on the stigma of the pistil, germinates, forming a pollen tube. Pollen germinates under the influence of special substances containing sugars, which are secreted by the cells of the mature stigma.

Pollen germination in some plants at C is observed within 15-20 minutes. Pollen tubes do not develop simultaneously; some dust particles have a shorter tube, while others have a longer one.

Germinated pollen grains on a cover glass can be stained with acetoorcein and one or two (depending on the length of the tube) nuclei (sperm) can be seen in the tubes.

In addition to pollen germination, abnormal cells can be detected by morphological analysis using stains. For example, pollen containing starch is stained with iodine: take the anther of any plant with fully ripe pollen grains and place it on a glass slide. Using a dissecting needle, the anther is broken and the pollen grains are distributed over the surface of the glass. A drop of 0.5% alcohol solution of iodine is applied to the glass, which reveals the presence of starch by the specific blue color of pollen grains. They can be stained with acetorcein and grains with an abnormal shape, weakly colored, “unfulfilled”, i.e., the proportion of abortive cells, can be studied.

Task 1. Using pollen from a wide variety of plant species, students analyzed the variability of its morphology in a drop of water without coloring (intravital), using staining with iodine and acetocarmine.

Task 2. During the flowering period of rye and other cultivated plants and the final maturation of pollen in forms with different genotypes (diploids, polyploids, aneuploids), in forms growing in different conditions environment (pay attention to the weather conditions under which meiosis or the processes of completing pollen morphogenesis occurred), determine the frequency of occurrence of abnormal mature pollen grains. Classify abnormal cells: sharp deviations in size, disturbance of shape, disturbance of the cytoplasm (its compression and detachment from the membrane, etc.). Abortive pollen grains often have a single nucleus. To analyze the frequency of abortive pollen, stain with acetorcein or acetocarmine.

Man, in his quest to improve nature, moves further and further. Thanks to modern advances in genetics, farmers are getting more and more unusual and interesting hybrids that can satisfy the wildest desires of consumers.
In addition, globalization leads to the spread of plant species that are not typical for a given climate zone. In our country, pineapples and bananas have long since become exotic; hybrid nectarines and miniols, etc., have become commonplace.

Yellow watermelon (38 kcal, vitamins A, C)

It's the usual striped watermelon on the outside, but bright yellow on the inside. Another feature is the very small number of seeds. This watermelon is the result of crossing a wild one (yellow inside, but completely tasteless) with a cultivated watermelon. The result was juicy and tender, but less sweet than red.
They are grown in Spain (round varieties) and Thailand (oval). There is a variety “Lunny” bred by breeder Sokolov from Astrakhan. This variety has a very sweet taste with some exotic notes, similar to the taste of mango or lemon, or pumpkin.
There is also a Ukrainian hybrid based on watermelon (“kavuna”) and pumpkin (“garbuza”) - “Kavbuz”. It is more like a pumpkin with a watermelon flavor and is ideal for making porridge.

Purple potatoes (72 kcal, vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium, iron, magnesium and zinc)

Potatoes with pink, yellow or purple skins no longer surprise anyone. But scientists from Colorado State University managed to get potatoes with purple colors inside. The variety is based on Andean highland potatoes, and the color is due to the high content of anthocyanins. These substances are the strongest antioxidants, the properties of which are preserved even after cooking.
They called the variety “Purple Majesty”; it is already actively sold in England and is being started in Scotland, whose climate is most suitable for the variety. The variety was popularized by the English cook Jamie Oliver. These purple potatoes with a familiar taste look great mashed, indescribably rich in color, baked, and of course fries.

Romanesco cabbage (25 kcal, carotene, vitamin C, mineral salts, zinc)

The ethereal appearance of this close relative of broccoli and cauliflower perfectly illustrates the concept of “fractal.” Its soft green inflorescences are cone-shaped and arranged in a spiral on the head of cabbage. This cabbage comes from Italy, it has been widely sold for about 10 years, and its popularization was facilitated by Dutch breeders who slightly improved the vegetable, known to Italian housewives since the 16th century.

Romanesco has little fiber and a lot of useful substances, making it easily digestible. Interestingly, when preparing this cabbage, there is no characteristic cabbage smell, which children do not like so much. Besides, exotic look space vegetable makes you want to try it. Romanesco is prepared like regular broccoli - boiled, stewed, added to pasta and salads.

Pluot (57 kcal, fiber, vitamin C)

By crossing plant species such as plums (plum) and apricots (apricot), two hybrids were obtained: pluot, which looks more like a plum, and aprium, which looks more like an apricot. Both hybrids are named after the first syllables of the English names of the parent species.
Externally, pluot fruits are colored pink, green, burgundy or purple, the inside is from white to rich plum. These hybrids were bred at Dave Wilson Nursery in 1989. Now in the world there are already two varieties of aprium, eleven varieties of pluot, one nectaplama (a hybrid of nectarine and plum), and one pichplama (a hybrid of peach and plum).
Plouts are used for making juice, desserts, homemade preparations and wine. This fruit tastes much sweeter than both plum and apricot.

Watermelon radish (20 kcal, folic acid, vitamin C)

Watermelon radishes live up to their name - they are bright crimson inside and covered with white-green skin on the outside, just like a watermelon. In shape and size too (diameter 7-8 cm) it resembles a medium-sized radish or turnip. It tastes quite ordinary - bitter near the skin and sweetish in the middle. True, it is harder, not as juicy and crispy as regular one.
It looks wonderful in a salad, simply sliced with sesame seeds or salt. It is also recommended to puree it, bake it, and add it to vegetables for frying.

Yoshta (40 kcal, anthocyanins with antioxidant properties, vitamins C, P)

Crossing such plant species as currants (johannisbeere) and gooseberries (stachelbeere) produced the yoshtu berry with fruits close to black in color, the size of a cherry, with a sweet and sour, slightly astringent taste, pleasantly reminiscent of currants.
Michurin also dreamed of creating currants the size of gooseberries, but not prickly. He managed to develop the “Black Moor” gooseberry, which is dark purple in color. By 1939, in Berlin, Paul Lorenz was also breeding similar hybrids. Due to the war, these works were stopped. It was only in 1970 that Rudolf Bauer managed to get the ideal plant. Now there are two varieties of yoshta: “Black” (brown-burgundy color) and “Red” (faded red color).
During the season, 7-10 kg of berries are obtained from the yoshta bush. They are used in homemade preparations, desserts, and for flavoring soda. Yoshta is good for gastrointestinal diseases, for removing heavy metals and radioactive substances from the body, and improving blood circulation.

Broccolini (43 kcal, calcium, vitamins A, C, iron, fiber, folic acid)

In the cabbage family, as a result of crossing ordinary broccoli and Chinese broccoli (gailan), a new cabbage was obtained that looks like asparagus on the top with a broccoli head.
Broccolini is a little sweet, does not have a sharp cabbage spirit, with a peppery note, delicate in taste, reminiscent of asparagus and broccoli at the same time. It contains many useful substances and is low in calories.
In the USA, Brazil, Asian countries, Spain, broccolini is commonly used as a side dish. It is served fresh, drizzled with butter or lightly fried in oil.

Nashi (46 kcal, antioxidants, phosphorus, calcium, fiber)

Another result of plant crossings is Nashi. It was obtained from apples and pears in Asia several centuries ago. There it is called Asian, water, sand or Japanese pear. The fruit looks like a round apple, but tastes like a juicy, crisp pear. The color of Nashi ranges from pale green to orange. Unlike regular pears, nashi are harder, so they are better stored and transported.
Nashi is quite juicy, so it is best used in salads or solo. Also good as an appetizer with wine along with cheese and grapes. Currently, about 10 popular commercial varieties are grown in Australia, the USA, New Zealand, France, Chile and Cyprus.

Yuzu (30 kcal, vitamin C)

Yuzu (Japanese lemon) is a hybrid of mandarin and ornamental citrus (ichang papeda). The fruit is the size of a green or yellow color with lumpy skin, it has a sour taste and bright aroma. The Japanese have been using it since the 7th century, when Buddhist monks brought this fruit from the mainland to the islands. Yuzu is popular in Chinese and Korean cooking.
It has a completely unusual aroma - citrus, with floral shades and notes of pine. Most often used for flavoring, the zest is used as a seasoning. This seasoning is added to meat and fish dishes, miso soup, and noodles. Jams, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, desserts, and syrups are also prepared with zest. The juice is similar to lemon juice (sour and aromatic, but softer) and is the basis of ponzu sauce, and is also used as vinegar.
It also has cult significance in Japan. December 22 is a holiday winter solstice It is customary to take baths with these fruits, which symbolize the sun. Its aroma drives away evil forces, protects against colds. Animals are dipped into the same bath, and then the plants are watered with water.

Yellow beets (50 kcal, folic acid, potassium, vitamin A, fiber)

These beets differ from ordinary ones only in color and in the fact that they do not dirty your hands when cooking. It tastes just as sweet, aromatic, and is good baked and even in chips. Yellow beet leaves can be used fresh in salads.

But man is only learning to transform plant species, while nature has been creating for a long time

Non-specialists are often suspicious of hybrid plants, unaware that many of the crops they grow in their garden plots are the result of many years of work by breeders.

In dioecious plants such as spinach, when growing in one area, one of the varieties should have the male plants removed.

Crossing cross-pollinating crops in isolated areas greatly minimizes labor costs: pollination occurs naturally - by wind or insects. In addition, in one isolated area it is possible to place several plants of the same variety, thus increasing the number of hybrid seeds obtained. A significant disadvantage of this method is the impossibility of completely eliminating the ingress of foreign pollen. In addition, with natural crossover, approximately half of the plants are fertilized with pollen of their own variety.

In regions with warm climates, where the growing season is quite long, for plants with quickly fading flowers, isolation can be used at time intervals: in the same area, different combinations crossing. Different terms flowering excludes unplanned cross-pollination.

In breeding practice, in the absence of sufficient space for organizing individual areas, insulating structures are used:

The design is made in the form of a frame, which is covered with light transparent fabric.
To isolate individual shoots or inflorescences, small “houses” are made of parchment paper or gauze, which are used to cover a wire frame.

For insect-pollinated plants, when constructing insulators, it is better to use materials such as cambric or gauze; for wind-pollinated crops, parchment paper.

The process of hybridization - crossing plants - is aimed at obtaining plant varieties that have advantageous properties of the parent varieties, such as:

High yield
Resistance to
Frost resistance
Drought resistance
Short ripening times

For example, if the paternal and maternal plants have resistance to different diseases, then the resulting hybrid will inherit resistance to both diseases.

Hybrid plant varieties have better vitality; they are less susceptible to changes in temperature, humidity, and changes in climatic conditions than their non-hybrid counterparts.

More information can be found in the video.

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Often, non-specialists are suspicious of hybrid plants, not realizing that many of the crops they grow in their gardens are the result of many years of work by breeders.

What is plant crossing

Hybridization or crossing of plants is one of the main methods of plant breeding. The essence of the method is to cross two plants of different varieties, species or genera.

The result, which directly depends on the selection of parent plants, is the production of new varieties and species.

For example, few people know that such crops as plums or garden strawberries did not exist in nature. The plum was obtained by crossing sloe and cherry plum, and garden strawberries, or strawberries as they are incorrectly called, are the result of crossing wild species of strawberries - Virginia and Chilean.

Crossbreeding technology

Crossing technology consists of the artificial or natural transfer of pollen from a plant of one variety or species to another, carried out under careful control.

During this period, it is important to isolate the flowers to prevent the entry of foreign pollen.

Choose two plants of different varieties or species.
On the mother plant, select the most conveniently located flowers.
Carefully open the unopened buds (one day before blooming).
Using tweezers, carefully remove all stamens with pollen.
Wrap flowers with removed stamens in white thin material to avoid unplanned pollination.
The day before removing the stamens from one plant from the second (paternal) buds about to open, collect pollen in a glass jar.
Cover the jar with gauze or a light transparent cloth and place it in a dry place.

The day after the stamens are removed from the mother plant, fertilization is carried out:

The best time is the first half of the day before twelve o'clock.
Shake the jar of pollen.
The pollen that has settled on the walls of the jar is carefully applied to the stigma of the mother plant with a cotton swab or other improvised means (you can even use your finger).
Cover the fertilized flower again with a light, thin cloth or gauze.
Repeat fertilization for 3 days.

Fertilized flowers must be covered for the entire growth period until the fruit ripens. It is recommended to remove excess flowers. After harvesting ripened fruits, they must be stored for from several weeks to several months, depending on the time of ripening and the shelf life of the crop.

Seeds of stone fruit plants are sown immediately on the beds; pome seeds of summer ripening, after three days of drying, are sown in the sand on the beds in the fall. The seeds of plants that ripen in the fall are collected when the fruits begin to deteriorate, but no later than April. After collecting and drying, they are sown in prepared containers.

Spatial and temporal isolation during crossing

When crossing cross-pollinating crops, spatial isolation can be used: the plants are grown in different areas remote from the plants of the given variety. Such crops include carrots, cabbage, beets, etc.

In dioecious plants such as spinach, when growing in one area, one of the varieties should have the male plants removed.

Crossing cross-pollinating crops in isolated areas greatly minimizes labor costs: pollination occurs naturally - by wind or insects. In addition, in one isolated area it is possible to place several plants of the same variety, thus increasing the number of hybrid seeds obtained. A significant disadvantage of this method is the impossibility of completely eliminating the ingress of foreign pollen. In addition, with natural cross-pollination, approximately half of the plants are fertilized with pollen from their own variety.

In regions with a warm climate, where the growing season is quite long, for plants with quickly fading flowers, isolation at time intervals can be used: different combinations of crossings are carried out in the same area. Different flowering times eliminate unplanned cross-pollination.

In breeding practice, in the absence of sufficient space for organizing individual areas, insulating structures are used:

The design is made in the form of a frame, which is covered with light transparent fabric.
To isolate individual shoots or inflorescences, small “houses” are made of parchment paper or gauze, which are covered with a wire frame.

For insect-pollinated plants, when constructing insulators, it is better to use materials such as cambric or gauze; for wind-pollinated crops, parchment paper.

Benefits of Crossbreeding

The process of hybridization - crossing plants - is aimed at obtaining plant varieties that have advantageous properties of the parent varieties, such as:

High yield
Disease resistance
Frost resistance
Drought resistance
Short ripening times

For example, if the paternal and maternal plants have resistance to different diseases, then the resulting hybrid will inherit resistance to both diseases.

Hybrid plant varieties have better vitality; they are less susceptible to changes in temperature, humidity, and changes in climatic conditions than their non-hybrid counterparts.

More information can be found in the video.

Yellow watermelon (38 kcal, vitamins A, C)

Purple potatoes (72 kcal, vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium, iron, magnesium and zinc)

Romanesco cabbage (25 kcal, carotene, vitamin C, mineral salts, zinc)

Romanesco has little fiber and a lot of useful substances, making it easily digestible. Interestingly, when preparing this cabbage, there is no characteristic cabbage smell, which children do not like so much. In addition, the exotic appearance of the space vegetable makes you want to try it. Romanesco is prepared like regular broccoli - boiled, stewed, added to pasta and salads.

Pluot (57 kcal, fiber, vitamin C)

By crossing plant species such as plums (plum) and apricots (apricot), two hybrids were obtained: pluot, which looks more like a plum, and aprium, which looks more like an apricot. Both hybrids are named after the first syllables of the English names of the parent species.
Externally, pluot fruits are colored pink, green, burgundy or purple, while the inside varies from white to deep plum. These hybrids were bred at Dave Wilson Nursery in 1989. Now in the world there are already two varieties of aprium, eleven varieties of pluot, one nectaplama (a hybrid of nectarine and plum), and one pichplama (a hybrid of peach and plum).
Plouts are used for making juice, desserts, homemade preparations and wine. This fruit tastes much sweeter than both plum and apricot.

Watermelon radish (20 kcal, folic acid, vitamin C)

Yoshta (40 kcal, anthocyanins with antioxidant properties, vitamins C, P)

Broccolini (43 kcal, calcium, vitamins A, C, iron, fiber, folic acid)

In the cabbage family, as a result of crossing ordinary broccoli and Chinese broccoli (gailan), a new cabbage was obtained that looks like asparagus on the top with a broccoli head.
Broccolini is a little sweet, does not have a sharp cabbage spirit, with a peppery note, delicate in taste, reminiscent of asparagus and broccoli at the same time. It contains many useful substances and is low in calories.
In the USA, Brazil, Asian countries, Spain, broccolini is usually used as a side dish. It is served fresh, drizzled with butter or lightly fried in oil.

Nashi (46 kcal, antioxidants, phosphorus, calcium, fiber)

Yuzu (30 kcal, vitamin C)

Yuzu (Japanese lemon) is a hybrid of mandarin and ornamental citrus (ichang papeda). The fruit, the size of a tangerine, is green or yellow in color with lumpy skin and has a sour taste and bright aroma. The Japanese have been using it since the 7th century, when Buddhist monks brought this fruit from the mainland to the islands. Yuzu is popular in Chinese and Korean cooking.
It has a completely unusual aroma - citrus, with floral shades and notes of pine. Most often used for flavoring, the zest is used as a seasoning. This seasoning is added to meat and fish dishes, miso soup, and noodles. Jams, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, desserts, and syrups are also prepared with zest. The juice is similar to lemon juice (sour and aromatic, but softer) and is the basis of ponzu sauce, and is also used as vinegar.
It also has cult significance in Japan. On December 22, the winter solstice, it is customary to take baths with these fruits, which symbolize the sun. Its aroma drives away evil forces and protects against colds. Animals are dipped into the same bath, and then the plants are watered with water.

Yellow beets (50 kcal, folic acid, potassium, vitamin A, fiber)

But man is just learning to transform plant species, and nature has been creating such a miracle for a long time!

All about front gardens, flower beds and flower beds - in photographs and articles

Breeding our own flower varieties

We will tell you how to cross two varieties of the same plant species with each other - this method is called hybridization. Let these be plants of different colors or different shapes of petals and leaves. Or perhaps they will differ in flowering time or requirements for external conditions?

Choose plants that bloom quickly to speed up the experiment. It is also better to start by choosing unpretentious flowers - for example, foxgloves, calendulas or delphiniums.

Progress of the experiment and observation diary

First, formulate your goals - what you want to get from the experiment. What desirable traits should new varieties have?

Keep a notebook-diary where you write down your goals and record the progress of the experiment from beginning to end.

Be sure to describe in detail the original plants and then the resulting hybrids. Here are the most important points: plant health, growth rate, size, color, aroma, flowering time.

Flower structure

In our article, we will take the hellebore flower as an example; you can see it in the diagram and in the photographs.

The appearance of flowers can vary significantly from plant to plant, but the structure of the flowers is basically the same.

Pollination of a flower

1. Start by choosing two plants. There will be one pollinator, and the other - seed plant. Choose healthy and vigorous plants.

2. Keep a close eye on the seed plant. Select an unopened bud with which you will carry out all the manipulations, and mark it. Moreover, it will have to isolate before opening– tying it in a light linen bag. As soon as the flower begins to open, cut off all the stamens to prevent accidental pollination.

3. Once the flower of the seed plant has fully opened, transfer pollen to it from a pollinating plant. Pollen can be transferred using a cotton swab, a brush, or by tearing out the stamens of a pollinating flower and bringing them directly to the seed. Apply pollen to the stigma of the flower of a seed plant.

4.Put on the flower of the seed plant linen bag. Don’t forget to make the necessary notes in your observation diary about the time of pollination.

5. To be on the safe side, repeat the pollination operation after some time - for example, after a couple of days (depending on the timing of flowering).

Choose two flowers - one will serve as a pollinator, the other will become a seed plant.

As soon as the flower of the seed plant opens, cut off all its stamens.

Apply pollen taken from a pollinating flower to the pistil of a seed plant flower.

A pollinated flower must be marked.

Obtaining hybrids

1. If pollination was successful, then soon the flower will begin to fade, and the ovary will increase. Do not remove the bag from the plant until the seeds are ripe.

2. Plant the resulting seeds as seedlings. When will you receive it? young hybrid plants, then give them a separate place in the garden or transplant them into boxes.

3. Now wait for the hybrids to bloom. Don't forget to write down all your observations in your diary. Among the first, and even the second generation, there may be flowers that exactly repeat the parental properties without changes. Such specimens are immediately rejected. Check in with your goals and select among the new plants received those that most closely match the desired characteristics. You can also pollinate them by hand, or isolate them.

The flower of the seed plant should be protected with a textile bag.

When you receive the seeds, plant them as seedlings. Place young plants in boxes.

Keep a close eye on your new hybrid and write down your observations in your diary.

If you decide to seriously develop new varieties, then you will need the advice of a specialist breeder. The fact is that you will need to find out whether you really have developed a new variety or are you following a path already trodden by someone else. Competition in the field of creating new varieties is very high.

For those who have decided to experiment with hybridization as a home hobby, we wish you to get a lot of pleasure from this activity, make many joyful discoveries and finally give all your gardener friends a new variety of some wonderful flower named after itself.