C-banding in meiosis: an approach to the study of wheat and rye genome interactions in triticale

Abstract

Meiosis in four primary hexaploid triticale lines, in their component two tetraploid wheat and two rye parents, and in the hybrids obtained by crossing within each ploidic level was studied using Giemsa banding. The individual chromosomes were identified and their meiotic behaviour at first metaphase was analyzed in each line. In each new triticale line, the level of pairing for wheat chromosomes was moderately reduced and for rye chromosomes was very significantly reduced, in comparison with that of the wheat and rye parents used to synthesize it. The pairing intensity observed suggests the presence of a strong negative intergenomic interaction between the rye and wheat genomes in triticale, irrespective of whether the rye is in a homozygous or heterozygous genotypic condition. The homozygosity or heterozygosity in the wheat constituent does not appear to effect the behaviour of the rye chromosomes in triticale.Key words: triticale, meiosis, C-banding, heterosis.