Hybrids can be intrageneric (when species belonging to the same genus are crossed) or intergeneric (when species belonging to different genera are crossed).

In industrial and amateur floriculture, the term grex is also used (eng. grex), which was introduced by Carl Linnaeus to use binomial nomenclature in the classification of artificial hybrids.

According to the weight of the eggs, a “maternal effect” was observed (r = −1.0) .

Reciprocal effects in mammals

In pigs, the “paternal” effect is observed in the number of vertebrae (selection for a long body) (r = 0.72 and 0.74 ), the length of the small intestine (selection for the best feed payment), and growth dynamics (selection for precocity) (r = 1.8).

The "maternal effect" was observed on the average weight of the embryos, digestive system and its parts, the length of the large intestine and the weight of newborn piglets.

In cattle, a “paternal” effect was observed for milk yield (r = 0.07, 0.39, 0.23) and milk fat production (amount of fat) (r = 1.08, 1.79, 0.34).

The "maternal effect" was observed in the percentage of fat in milk in cows (r = -0.13, -0.19, -0.05) .

Theories of reciprocal effects

The maternal effect may be due to cytoplasmic heredity, homogametic constitution, and uterine development in mammals. There is actually a maternal effect, when the mother's genotype is manifested in the phenotype of the offspring. Molecules in the egg, such as mRNA, can influence the early stages of the developmental process. Maternal inheritance is also distinguished, in which the offspring receives part of the genotype exclusively from the mother, for example, mitochondria and plastidscontaining their own genome. In maternal inheritance, the phenotype of the offspring reflects its own genotype.

"Paternal Effect"

The greater influence of the father on the egg production of daughters in chickens was explained by the fact that in birds the female is the heterogametic sex, and the male is the homogametic sex. Therefore, the chicken receives its only X chromosome from the father, and if egg production is determined by it, then everything is clear. This interpretation can explain the chromosomal mechanism of the phenomenon in birds, but is no longer applicable to mammals. It is also surprising that traits that appear only in the female sex (the instinct of incubation, precocity and egg production in a chicken or milk yield and amount of milk fat in a cow), which, it would seem, should be transmitted by the mother, nevertheless are transmitted more by the father.

Interspecific and intergeneric hybridization

Interspecific hybridization is often observed both in nature and when cultivated by humans (keeping in captivity) in many species of plants and animals. In nature, in areas of contact between closely related species, so-called "hybrid zones" can form, where hybrids numerically predominate over parental forms.

Interspecific introgressive hybridization is widespread in Daphnia. In some summer populations of daphnia, hybrids predominate, making it difficult to define species boundaries.

The famous experimental hybrid Rafanobrassika ( Raphano-brassica) was obtained by G. D. Karpechenko when crossing radish with cabbage. Both species belong to different genera and have 18 chromosomes each. The hybrid obtained as a result of doubling the number of chromosomes (36) was able to reproduce, since in the process of meiosis, the chromosomes of radish and cabbage were conjugated with their own kind. He had some of the characteristics of each of the parents and kept them pure when breeding.

Intergeneric hybrids (both natural and obtained by breeders) are also known in the families of cereals, rose, citrus, orchids, etc. Thus, the hexaploid genome of soft wheat was formed by combining the diploid genomes of two ancestral wheat species and one species of the closely related genus Aegilops ( aegilops).

Hybrids in botanical nomenclature

Hybrid plant taxa are called nothotaxa.

• Hybridity is indicated by the multiplication sign "×" or by adding the prefix "notho-" to the term denoting the taxon's rank.
• Hybridity between taxa is indicated by an "×" placed between the names of these taxa. The names in the formula are preferably arranged in alphabetical order. The direction of crossing can be indicated by symbolic sex signs (♂ and ♀).
  Example: Phalaenopsis amabilis () Blume × Phalaenopsis aphrodite Rchb.f.
• Hybrids between members of two or more taxa may be given names. In this case, the sign "×" is placed before the name of the intergeneric hybrid or before the epithet in the name of the interspecific hybrid. Examples:
• A nothotaxon cannot be designated if at least one of its parent taxa is unknown.
• If, for some reason, the letter “x” is used instead of the “×”, then one letter space can be made between this letter and the epithet, if this helps to avoid ambiguity. The letter "x" must be lowercase.
• The notogeneic name of a hybrid between two or more genera is either a concise formula in which the names adopted for the parental genera are combined into one word, or is formed from the name of the researcher or horticulturist who dealt with this group. Examples:
  • × Rhynchosophrocattleya (= Rhyncholaelia × Sophronitis × Cattleya)
  • × Vuylstekeara (= Cochlioda × miltonia × Odontoglossum). The genus was registered in 1911 by the famous Belgian orchid collector and breeder Charles Vuylsteke (1844-1927).
• Taxa considered to be hybrid in origin need not be designated as nothotaxa. Examples:

Hybrids in crop production

When creating new varieties cultivated plants obtaining hybrids is carried out manually (hand pollination, removal of panicles), chemical (gametocide) or genetic (self-incompatibility, male sterility) means. The resulting components can be used in various controlled crossing systems. The goal of the breeder is to use the heterosis, or the vitality of the hybrid, which is most effective in the F1 generation, to obtain the desired advantage in yield or some other characteristic in the resulting generation, or hybrid. This heterosis is especially pronounced in crosses between inbred lines, but may also show advantage in other systems.

A hybrid obtained by a single cross between two inbred lines usually proves to be highly uniform. The fact of heterozygosity is of no consequence, as there is usually no further breeding beyond the F1 generation, and the variety is maintained by multiple returns to controlled parental crosses.

Hybrids in zoology

Sterility of hybrids

Unfavorable interactions between cytoplasmic and nuclear genes also lead to sterility of interspecific hybrids in different groups plants and animals.

Plant and animal species often differ in translocations, inversions, and other rearrangements that, when heterozygous, cause semi-sterility or sterility. The degree of sterility is proportional to the number of independent rearrangements: so heterozygosity for one translocation gives 50% sterility, for two independent translocations - 75% sterility, etc. Plant sterility is determined by the gametophyte. In heterozygotes for chromosomal rearrangements, as a result of meiosis, daughter nuclei are formed that carry shortages and duplications in certain areas; functional pollen grains and ovules are not obtained from such nuclei. Chromosomal sterility of this type is very common in interspecific hybrids of flowering plants.

The course of meiosis in a hybrid can be disturbed either by genetic factors or by differences in the structure of chromosomes. Both gene and chromosomal sterility can be expressed in the aberrant course of meiosis. But the types of meiotic aberrations are different. Gene sterility is common in animal hybrids, and chromosomal sterility is common in plant hybrids. Genetic analysis of some interspecific hybrids of plants shows that often in one hybrid both chromosomal and gene sterility is observed simultaneously.

Destruction of hybrids

In cases where a certain interspecific hybrid is sufficiently viable and capable of reproduction, the generations of its descendants will contain a significant proportion of non-viable, subvital, sterile and semi-sterile individuals. These types are unfortunate recombination products resulting from interspecific hybridization. Such suppression of power and fertility in hybrid offspring is called hybrid breakdown. The destruction of hybrids is the last link in a series of barriers that prevent interspecific gene exchange.

Hybrid breakdown is invariably found in the progeny of interspecific hybrids in plants, where it is easier to observe than in most animal crosses.

Hybrids with their own names

• Bester - (according to the first syllables of the words beluga and sterlet), a hybrid artificially obtained in the USSR as a result of crossing a beluga with a sterlet in 1952. Combines the rapid growth of the beluga with the early maturation of the sterlet. Prolific, length up to 180 cm, weight over 30 kg.
• Wolfin is a hybrid of the bottlenose dolphin and the lesser killer whale.
• A zebroid is a hybrid from a cross between a zebra and a domestic horse.
• A zebrul is a cross between a zebra and a donkey.
• Bison is a hybrid of bison and bison.
• Kama, or camel, is a hybrid of a one-humped camel and a llama.
• Kidas (kidus) - a hybrid of sable and pine marten.
• The killer whale is a hybrid of a female bottlenose dolphin and a male black killer whale.
• red parrot - aquarium fish, a hybrid of the cichlid family.
• Leopard - a hybrid of a female African leopard and a lion
• Leopon is a hybrid of a male leopard and a lioness.
• liger panthera leo) and tigress ( Panthera tigris).
• Liliger - a hybrid from crossing a lion ( panthera leo) and ligers
• A hinny is a hybrid of a stallion and a donkey.
• Mezhnyak is a hybrid of black grouse and capercaillie.
• The mule is a hybrid of a donkey and a horse.
• Mullard is a hybrid obtained by crossing Muscovy duck drakes with Peking White, Orgpington, Rouen and White Allier ducks.
• Nar is a hybrid of one-humped and two-humped camels.
• Peasley (grolar) - a hybrid of polar and brown bears
• The tigon is a hybrid of a tiger and a lioness.
• Cuff is a hybrid of a white hare and a brown hare.
• Hainak (Zo) - a hybrid of a yak and a cow.
• Honorik is a hybrid between a ferret and a European mink.
• Jagopard is a hybrid of a jaguar and a leopard.

Hybrids in the Orchidaceae family

Many species of the same genus and even representatives of different genera easily interbreed, forming numerous hybrids capable of further reproduction. Most of the hybrids that have appeared over the past 100 years have been created artificially with the help of targeted

Summer residents do not have a time when they do not think about their beds. So in winter, the time to purchase seeds begins. You need to think over the planting site, plan what to plant, how much seeds to buy, what varieties, in what quantities. Of course, the favorite vegetable grown is the cucumber. Today, a wide variety of colored bags are laid out on the shelves, but bright ones with a not very common name - cucumber hybrids attract attention. True, it may not be clear to novice gardeners what a hybrid is and how it differs from ordinary varieties. Let's try to figure it out together!

What is a hybrid

This is the crossing of cells of genetically different forms. Such crossbreeding is most often used in botany. Seeds are obtained by mixing two different varieties. Both of them should bring in the resulting hybrid variety best qualities and surpass in all respects their parents. This ability was called hybrid power. There is another name - heterosis - this is a hybrid that has received all the best signs of the best of its parents. Usually these properties appear only in the seeds of the first generation.

First generation seeds

All such seeds are much better in their qualities than ordinary, non-hybrid ones. They are much tastier, there is no bitterness in the fruits, they are much more resistant to temperature changes, they get sick less. There are a lot of such varieties of cucumbers. You just need to look at the summary and choose the ones you like. Now super-early seeds have appeared, the ripening period of which from germination to fruit production is only 35-40 days.

What is an F1 hybrid

This marking is often seen on seed packets. The symbol F1 is an indication that the variety was created by crossing, and the seeds are obtained from the first generation. They tend to cost more. Work on breeding varieties of the first generation is carried out in strict accordance with all agricultural practices and only manually. This is the guarantee of really excellent quality seeds.

Which seeds to choose

First of all, you need to understand that hybrid seeds are of two types: bee-pollinated and parthenocarpic or growing without pollination. So, you can choose what to plant in a greenhouse, and what is better in open ground, right in the garden. It is worth noting such a positive quality of cucumber hybrids as the inability to accumulate a large number of nitrates.

Hybrid seeds are distinguished by excellent friendly germination, are less susceptible to various diseases, tolerate short-term cooling without serious consequences, and are characterized by high yields, even in years with unfavorable weather. After all, what is a hybrid? This is a combination of the best features!

Of course, experienced gardeners prefer varieties that grow without pollination or parthenocarpic. These varieties are the most productive, rarely bitter, do not require careful care. They only need fertile, well-fertilized soil and frequent abundant watering. Such cucumbers are good in summer in salads, as well as for winter preservation. Small cucumbers, mostly of the gherkin type, can be pickled even in small jars.

Methods and terms of sowing, cultivation methods

The early start of fruiting makes it possible to sow cucumbers at different times, and get an excellent harvest all summer. Varieties of this type usually give a lot of ovaries, up to a dozen are formed in the nodes, and in some varieties even more, medium-sized cucumbers.

In early spring, you can plant seeds in seedlings in polycarbonate greenhouse and by the beginning or middle of June, get the first cucumbers. You can plant seeds in the greenhouse directly into the ground and the next wave of fruits will arrive in time for the start of the conservation time.

It is also possible to land directly on the garden bed, without any shelter. You can have time to enjoy fresh cucumbers and harvest a good harvest even with this method of cultivation. But lovers of harvesting their seeds need to keep in mind that hybrids cannot be taken for seeds, because the next year's crop may not be obtained. The second generation may be either infertile or completely sterile.

Now you know what a hybrid is. So keep it up! Be sure to carefully read the growing instructions on the seed bag. Then there is hope that the harvest will be such that it will need to be taken out, if not by truck, then by a car like the Toyota Prius Hybrid. All in your hands!

Often on the packages of seeds in the name of the variety there is a mysterious inscription F1 . Who knows the secret meaning of these symbols, I often prefer to take them, rather than the usual varieties. What is remarkable about them and in general what is it - F1 hybrids?

First, what is a hybrid anyway?

Hybrid(lat. hybrida - crossbreed) - an organism (cell) obtained as a result of crossing genetically different forms. Hybrids may be intraspecific or, if obtained from crossing different types, remote. F1 hybrids are obtained by artificial pollination of flowers of different varieties of the same species.

F1 hybrids are the result of the work of breeders. First, a careful selection of parent plants is carried out. These must necessarily be varieties of the same species with the most opposite characteristics. For example, one variety is very cold-resistant, but does not tolerate drought well, while the other, on the contrary, is drought-resistant, but does not tolerate cold at all. As a result of crossing such opposite varieties, a genetically strong and adapted offspring appears.

This is where the mystery of the name F1 lies; is short for filly 1. In Latin, filli means child. So it turns out that F1 is a child of the first generation. Respectively F2, F3, F4, etc. are the next generations of this hybrid.

But the most valuable are the F1. As a result of crossing, the first offspring receives all the best from the parents. If one parent was fertile and the other resistant to disease, then the first offspring will "be able" to do both. However, in subsequent generations, the most weak sides parent plants. Already in the second generation, the hybrid may lose all its valuable qualities. In some cases, a mutation may even occur. Therefore, it is not recommended to collect seeds from plants grown from F1 hybrids.

Sometimes F1 hybrids even outperform their parents in a number of positive ways. Such a miracle is called heterosis, and hybrids, respectively, heterotic. This must be indicated on the packages.

Of course, F1 seeds cost 2-3 times more than regular varietals. This is due both to the huge costs of breeders for the selection of parent plants, and to the fact that hybrids produce relatively fewer seeds than conventional varieties. But most of the time the cost is justified. Most F1 hybrids are seriously superior to their "non-hybrid" counterparts. They are more resistant to adverse conditions environment, diseases and pests, give powerful harvests and generally develop better.

As a rule, all F1 hybrids are patented, and the parent plants are kept in the strictest confidence by the authors. So each hybrid is unique in its own way, and brings a good profit to the author. But just as not all that glitters is gold, not every bag with the inscription F1 contains quality seeds. The hybrid may simply be unsuccessful, or produce very tight seeds. Sometimes unscrupulous seed sellers slip seeds F2, F3, etc. instead of F1.

A hybrid is an organism resulting from the crossing of genetically different forms. Obtaining hybrids is a common practice in zoology and crop production. Experts cross different breeds and varieties to obtain species with new properties.

Read about the varieties and benefits of hybrids below.

What are the benefits of a hybrid?

A hybrid is an opportunity to combine the advantages of two in one organism. For example, there are two varieties of cucumbers, one variety has excellent disease resistance, the second - early ripening. Competent crossing of these two varieties at the output will give an early ripe and disease-resistant hybrid.

Named hybrids

Each crossing procedure always has a strong theoretical justification, but, nevertheless, not all hybrids meet the expectations of researchers; at the same time, there are hybrids that are so successful that they even get separate names.

Bester is a hybrid of sterlet and beluga, it was obtained in the USSR back in 1952, but it is still being bred, because it combines the rapid growth of beluga with the early maturation of sterlet. Bester is very prolific, has a length of up to 180 cm and a weight of up to 30 kg.

Also widely known hybrids: a mule is the result of crossing a donkey and a horse, a kama is a hybrid of a one-humped camel and a llama, a liger is a hybrid of a lion and a tigress.

What is a hybrid in the automotive industry?

Today, the word hybrid can often be heard in relation to a car. In this case, he means a car that uses more than one source of energy as fuel, for example, a classic internal combustion engine and an electric motor-generator.

What are hybrids F

How many generations does a hybrid have?

Depending on conditions external environment over time, plants accumulate certain characteristics that allow them to widely adapt to different environments. The best forms of such plants were selected by people for seeds. Thus, unique varieties of folk selection were created: onions - Strigunovsky, Bessonovsky; cucumber - Muromsky, Vyaznikovsky, Nezhinsky, Klinsky; cabbage - Kashirka, Belarusian, etc. With the development of agricultural science, new selection methods were improved and created, with their help new varieties were created, and old, local ones were improved.

However, with the development of the science of heredity and variability of organisms - genetics, in addition to simple selection, they increasingly began to use cross-pollination or, as breeders say, crossing different varieties to combine the necessary economically valuable traits of parent plants in one offspring. To do this, artificial isolation and castration of the flowers of the maternal form and their forced pollination with pre-collected pollen of the paternal form are carried out. As a result, hybrid seeds of the first generation (F1) are obtained. F2,... - symbols for designating, respectively, the first, second, etc. generations of individuals obtained from crossing two parental forms.

According to the laws of genetics, the resulting combination of traits in a hybrid is preserved only in the first generation. When selecting seeds from hybrids of the first generation, the next generation (F2) will be represented by such a diverse combination of all traits, even those that were not in the original parental varieties, that it is almost impossible to find two identical plants. But this is what allows in hybrids of the second generation (F2) to select from hundreds and thousands of plants only a few super-elites (the best plants), which will later become the ancestors of new varieties. True, the offspring of these best plants will not become a variety soon, at least in 5-7 years. And all this time, in order to achieve uniformity in the offspring, it will be necessary to cross many breeding lines (offspring from individual plants) and reject the worst ones.

Unfortunately, not every crossbreeding combination is able to give rise to at least one good variety in its offspring. Therefore, the creation of even a simple variety requires many years of persistent and painstaking work. And the longer the breeder works with a particular vegetable crop, the better he feels it, the more likely it is to find and create an original variety.

Purposeful work on the combination of strictly defined traits in one variety, including genetic resistance to various diseases, requires the breeder to use more complex methods of work. This includes crossing with wild varieties of vegetable crops, the use of mutagenesis [the process of the occurrence of hereditary changes (mutations) under the influence of external natural or artificial factors] and many other methods that allow you to create qualitatively new varieties, the production of which traditional methods just impossible.

A variety of conditions for growing vegetable crops and ways to use them for food, both fresh and for processing, requires a variety of varieties. The times of universal varieties, combining as many as possible positive qualities, passed. There are varieties for open and separately - for protected ground. The fruits of some are best used fresh, while others are only for processing. Therefore, the selection of such varieties is carried out strictly purposefully - taking into account a specific growing area, in order to obtain early or late products that are resistant to certain diseases. For some indicators, one variety is better than another, for others - vice versa. Therefore, when choosing a variety, you need to know for what growing conditions it is recommended and its main economic and biological indicators. Otherwise, you can buy seeds of an excellent variety of tomato, created, say, for combine harvesting in the south of the country, and try to get fruit from them in protected ground conditions. In addition to disappointment and losses, such work will not bring anything to an amateur vegetable grower.

Variety is a purely economic concept, and it is understood as a set of cultivated plants of the same species, created by man through selection and combined according to biological, morphological and economically valuable features. Therefore, a variety can also be a clone or more parental forms specially created for this purpose. Therefore, seed production of F1.

Hybrid F 1, unlike the above types of varieties, differs in that its seeds each time must be obtained by crossing two or more parental forms specially selected for this purpose. Therefore, the seed production of F 1 hybrids, that is, its reproduction, can only be carried out by those organizations that have the original parental lines. In our country, as a rule, this is the originating institution that created the hybrid, and one or two farms where this hybrid breeds according to the plan of the All-Union Association "Sortsemovoshch". In order to maintain a monopoly on the seed production of one or another F1 hybrid, its parent lines are usually kept secret. Therefore, when an amateur vegetable grower buys F1 Rusich or F1 Malyshok tomato seeds on the market from a private person, he can be sure that this is definitely not F1 Rusich or F1 Malyshok. At best, these are seeds harvested from the F1 hybrid, but this is not a heterotic hybrid, but its split progeny (F1). Indeed, in most cases, F1 hybrids are created on the basis of unproductive, and sometimes even sterile forms. Therefore, in the splitting F2 progeny, there may be plants either completely without fruits, or with varying degrees of productivity. In addition, F2 plants differ in height, bush shape, growth type, fruit size. Very often, under the guise of seeds of popular F1 hybrids of tomato or cucumber, the market, as a rule, sells ordinary varieties.

Hybrids of the first generation Tortila and Solveig

Hybrids of the first generation Verlioka and Carlson

Unfortunately, very often hand seed traders do not know the difference between seeding a regular variety and an F1 hybrid. Such ignorance leads to the fact that the amateur vegetable grower does not receive the expected return from the plants of the imaginary F1 hybrid, and the F1 hybrid itself is completely discredited. So if you want to purchase seeds of F1 hybrids of vegetable crops for your site, do it through the Semena stores of the All-Union Association Sortsemovoshch.

What are the advantages of the F1 hybrid compared to the regular variety? First of all, the hybrid is characterized by higher and more stable productivity. Even in conditions that are not entirely favorable - with a lack of light, with soil and air temperatures above or below optimal and the same non-standard humidity - F1 hybrids produce higher fruit yields than conventional varieties. In most cases, this is explained by the heterosis surge that occurs in the offspring when different parental forms are crossed.

In addition, F1 hybrids allow, due to the appropriate selection of the original parental lines, to combine in their offspring almost a factor of 10 more than in the usual variety of useful economic and biological traits.

Given these qualities of F1 hybrids, as well as the complexity of their seed production, they are now most widely used in protected ground structures, where every square meter of area is accounted for. Therefore, the price for seeds of F1 hybrids is usually several times higher than for conventional varieties of vegetable crops.

In our country, a whole series of first-generation hybrids for film and glass greenhouses has been created. The most common are F1 cucumber hybrids: Manul, Maisky, Legend, Gribovchanka, April, Zozulya, Rodnichok; tomato: Carlson, Rusich, Malyshok, Swift, Grenada, Verlioka, Swallow. Hybrids of the first generation of vegetable crops for open ground are being created.

It is clear from the foregoing: even if he manages to personally obtain an F1 hybrid by crossing, it is impossible for an amateur vegetable grower to engage in seed production of first-generation hybrids on his own, not to mention seed production of purchased hybrids. On the contrary, the reproduction of well-selected varieties, especially self-pollinating vegetable crops (tomato, pea, partially pepper, eggplant), can be easily mastered by the amateur vegetable grower himself. For several generations, such varieties retain the main economic and biological characteristics. External, not quite typical conditions for a particular variety, as a rule, do not change its hereditary structure in such a short time (2-4 years). With longer breeding periods, an amateur vegetable grower, as a rule, not knowing the characteristics of the variety and selecting seemingly the best specimens for seeds, may involuntarily lose others. positive properties plants. In addition, due to partial cross-pollination, impurities of other samples (and without properly organized seed production, this is possible), after a while the variety will lose some of its economic and biological characteristics and, first of all, will lose its ability to high yield. Therefore, amateur vegetable growers periodically need to carry out variety renewal (after 2-3 generations). If the conditions for growing a variety are unsatisfactory, then it is better not to get your own seeds, but to buy them in a specialized store.

Varietal propagation of cross-pollinated vegetable crops (cucumber, zucchini, onion, carrot, radish, etc.) is much more difficult, since it requires their significant spatial isolation. To avoid cross-pollination of one variety by another, they must be placed from each other at a distance of at least 50-100 m. And this is in conditions garden partnership hardly possible. That is why a variety, for example, of a cucumber propagated in a garden plot, after 1-2 years loses most of its typical features.

If an amateur vegetable grower is at least in general familiar with the process of creating various varieties, the organization of their seed production, then he is more serious about acquiring seeds. And this is in practical matter means a lot.

S. Gavrish , Ph.D. Sciences, TSHA

(household farm № 3, 1989)