The leaf surface micromorphology of plants obtained from crosses between Elymus farctus and the stable form × Trititrigia cziczinii × wheat cultivar ‘Botanicheskaya 3’

The micromorphological characteristics of the leaf surface of F₁–F₄ hybrids derived from crosses (stable form × Trititrigia cziczinii × ‘Botanicheskaya 3’) on Elymus farctus (Viv.) Runemark ex Melderis were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It is demonstrated that the leaf structure of F₁ plants contains micromorphological markers common to both parental forms and traits peculiar to one of the parents. Among those specific to the paternal form (E. farctus) are the Ω-shaped anticlinal walls of long epidermal cells, rounded silica cells, shield-shaped prickle hairs with a shortened barb on both leaf surfaces, and apically directed prickles on the adaxial costal zone. The presence of trichomes in the intercostal zone of the leaf adaxial side and macrohairs on the veins is likely to have been inherited from the maternal form and may be traced back to cultivar ‘Botanicheskaya 3’ and E. intermedia. The average cell width of cell rows in hybrids corresponded to the values of wild species E. farctus. Moreover, the hybrids exhibited smaller and more frequent stomata than both parental forms, as well as E. farctus. Concurrently, while the characteristics of the wild species E. farctus were dominant in the initial generation, those of the cultivated form (× Trititrigia × ‘Botanicheskaya 3’) were evident in the fourth generation. This was evidenced by the emergence of silica cells analogous to those observed in the maternal form, as well as the appearance of hybrid samples that exhibited spikelet shape, stomatal frequency, and cell row width characteristics similar to those of the cultivated maternal plant. These changes are likely the result of the loss of genetic material from the wild paternal species, E. farctus.