[en] Specific combining ability was evaluated in 11 selected vital morphological macromutants obtained after chronic irradiation of plants of the WD line. The evaluation concerned the following characteristics: grain yield per plant, number of grains per head, and 10O0-kernel weight. The value of the specific combining ability of selected lines - macromutants -increased in comparison with the control, i.e. with self-pollinated progenies of the WD line; this increase was statistically significant in all the observed characteristics. (author)