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Aim: specify the spike color inheritance in einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.) hybrids. Methods: reciprocal hybrids between the black-spikeed UA0300282 and white-spikeed UA0300311 cultivated einkorn accessions were created with the use of the “single cross” method. Four generations were analyzed using the segregation analysis method: P1, P2, F1, and F2 at autumn and spring sowing. Results: it was found that for the combination UA0300311 × UA0300282 at autumn sowing, the most suitable inheritance model is MX2-EA-AD, which implies the presence of two main genes with an equal additive effect plus polygene systems with an additive-dominant effect. In the plants of spring sowing, spike color is described by the MX2-CD-AD model, which suggests the presence of two major genes with full dominant effect plus polygenes with additive-dominant effect. In the reciprocal combination UA0300282 × UA0300311, the optimal model that describes best the spike color dispersion in plants of autumn sowing is MX2-ADI-AD, which suggests the presence of two main genes with an additive-dominant-epistatic effect plus polygenes with the additive-dominant effect. Distribution of the spring-sowing plants in terms of the spike color is well described by the MX2-ADI-ADI model – two main genes with an additive-dominant-epistatic effect plus a system of polygenes also with an additive-dominant-epistatic effect. The genes manifest themselves differently in the trait control depending on the weather conditions determined by the sowing time. In the group of direct combination plants (UA0300311 × UA0300282) of autumn sowing, heritability determined by the main gene is 97%, while that determined by polygenes is 2.7%; at spring sowing, these values are 67% and 32% respectively. In the reciprocal combination (UA0300282 × UA0300311) of autumn sowing, the main genes heritability effect is 99%, and the polygenic system accounts for 1%; in plants of spring sowing, respectively, 72%, and 28%. Conclusions: on the basis of the spike color expressiveness in the crossing combination of the einkorn kinds of wheat UA0300311 × UA0300282, the parental forms differ in two main genes and polygenes. The ratio of spike color heritability components depends on the growing conditions: at autumn sowing, 97–99 % of heritability is determined by the main genes, the polygenes account for 1–3 % of phenotypic variability; at spring sowing, the heritability component increases to 28–33 % due to the polygenic complex.

Diploid einkorn wheat (2n = 14) is an ancient crop that people cultivate for 10 thousand years. The grain of this wheat is a valuable product for a healthy diet, which determines the increasing interest in einkorn wheat by scientists and agricultural producers. Meanwhile, the wide use of this crop is hindered by several shortcomings that complicate the usage of modern technologies: low yield, ear fragility, a tendency to lodging, and difficult grain threshing. Nevertheless, there are some preconditions for improving the agronomic properties of this crop. We carried out crosses in seven combinations with the use of three wheat species (T. boeoticum, T. monococcum, T. sinskajae) to improve the diploid einkorn wheat in terms of productivity and threshing. In total, the hybrid seed set in the crosses varies from 6.3 % to 79.7 %. In the combination of cultivated wheat T. sinskajae with wild T. boeoticum, differences in the results of reciprocal crosses are observed specifically in the hybrid seed set (in the forward cross it equals 6.3 %; in the reverse one, 48.9 %). Hybrids from reciprocal crosses of T. monococcum var. sofianum UA0300649 and T. sinskajae f. aristata were equivalent in seed set (72 and 82 %) and inheritance patterns and had similar quantitative traits. In other combinations, the seed set varied from 12.5 to 45.6 %. Hybrid depression was the most frequent (22 cases out of 49) inheritance type of the F1 quantitative traits in einkorns; dominance of the parent form with a large trait manifestation was registered in 11 cases, and heterosis in four cases. In hybrids, the inheritance of spike length is correlated with the inheritance type of the ear number (r = 0.92) and the grain number (r = 0.78) per spike. The dominance degrees after these two traits are also highly correlated (r = 0.89). The combination UA0300400 T. boeoticum var. thaoudar ARM / UA0300224 T. sinskajae var. sinskajae RUS, which manifested heterosis for kernel number per spike (Hp = 1.2), the weight of spike (Hp = 11.8) and weight of kernels per spike (Hp = 5.4) is of particular interest. The combination UA0300222 T. monococcum var. hohensteinii / UA0300224 T. sinskajae var. sinskajae is promising for creating easily threshed material.