A reassessment of genome relationships between Thinopyrum bessarabicum and T. elongatum of the Triticeae

Abstract

Chromosome pairing and chiasma frequency in diploid (2n = 2x = 14; JE genomes), amphidiploid (2n = 4x = 28; JJEE), and triploid (2n = 3x = 21; JJE) hybrids between Thinopyrum bessarabicum (2n = 2x = 14; JJ) and T. elongatum (2n = 2x = 14; EE) were analyzed. The diploid hybrids (JE) showed a mean pairing of < 0.01V + 0.30IV + 0.28III + 4.98II + 1.97I with 8.36 chiasmata per cell. The pairing was rather poor, most bivalents being rod-shaped; some were clearly hetero-morphic and loosely paired (probably pseudochiasmate). The diploid hybrids were sterile, showing the reproductive isolation of the parental species. The JJE triploid had a mean chromosome configuration of < 0.01VI + 0.06IV + 1.53III + 5.46II + 5.20I with a chiasma frequency of 13.45 per cell. Chromosomes of the duplicated genome JJ showed preferential pairing, forming mostly ring bivalents with two or even three chiasmata each, as in the T. bessarabicum parent; most chromosomes of the E genome remained as univalents. Thus, the E genome chromosomes offered little synaptic competition to the chromosomes of the duplicated JJ genome. The degree of preferential pairing was even stronger in the JJEE amphidiploids, which predominantly showed bivalent pairing with up to 14 ring bivalents in some cells. They had a mean pairing of 0.01VI + 0.55IV + 0.26III + 11.75II + 1.42I; the mean quadrivalent frequency per cell varied from 0.10 to 1.53. Thus J and E genomes essentially maintained their meiotic integrity at the 4x level. This pattern of chromosome pairing in hybrids at different ploidies and the sterility of diploid hybrids show that J and E are distinct genomes and that there is little justification for merging them, as suggested by previous workers. The J and E are homoeologous at best. The merger of Lophopyrum (E genome) with the genus Thinopyrum (J genome) would be improper. Although the J and E genomes are close enough to permit some intergenomic gene flow, which may be exploited in plant breeding, they are certainly not close enough to have the same genomic designation. The JJEE amphidiploids are meiotically stable and may be a useful source of genes for wheat improvement.Key words: genome, meiosis, chromosome pairing, phylogenetic relationships, Thinopyrum, interspecific hybrid, autoallo-triploid, amphidiploid.