Abstract
Meiotic recombination plays a crucial role in the generation of new varieties. The effectiveness of recombination is limited by the distribution of crossover events, which in wheat and many other crops is skewed toward the distal regions of the chromosomes. Whole-genome sequencing of wheat has revealed that there are numerous important genes in the pericentromeric regions, which are inaccessible to manipulation due to the lack of crossover events. Studies in barley have shown that the distribution of recombination events can be shifted toward the centromeres by increasing temperature during meiosis. Here we present an analysis of the effects of temperature on the distribution and frequency of recombination events in wheat. Our data show that although increased temperature during meiosis does cause an inward shift in recombination distribution for some chromosomes, its overall utility is limited, with many genes remaining highly linked.
Highlights
Meiosis is a specialized type of cell division that leads to the production of haploid gametes
We have utilized a high-density SNP genotyping array (Allen et al, 2016) and four F2 mapping populations of an Apogee X Paragon (A × P) cross, each subjected to a different temperature during meiosis (10, 14, 26, and 28◦C, respectively), to examine whether wheat behaves in the same way as barley, and to assess the utility of any shift in distribution to breeders
Plants were deemed to be undergoing meiosis when the base of the stem showed visible swelling due to the growth of the developing head within the flag leaf sheath, often referred to as the ‘booting’ stage of development (Barber et al, 2015). They were transferred to temperature-controlled cabinets at 10, 14, 26, and 28◦C, respectively, for around 3 weeks
Summary
Meiosis is a specialized type of cell division that leads to the production of haploid gametes. In addition to its role in the formation of natural populations, meiosis is exploited in agriculture, where breeders cross different varieties of crops or animals together to produce offspring with a mixture of both parental phenotypic traits (Acquaah, 2007). This principle has previously been exploited to produce dramatic yield increases in staple food crops, such as during the green revolution, in which short-stemmed Japanese wheat varieties were crossed with high-yielding American varieties (Russell, 1985). This resulted in plants that were less susceptible to lodging (Rajikumara, 2008)
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