Abstract
Four species of Eleusine viz. E. intermedia, E. floccifolia, E. indica and E. tristachya are wild diploid taxa (2n=2x=18) and are presumed to have contributed to the evolution of finger millet, E. coracana, the amphidiploid with AABB genome (2n=2x=36) and an important minor millet grown in Africa and South Asia. E. indica is known to have contributed the A genome to E. coracana, while the information regarding the other genome donor species is not forthcoming. The present investigations were undertaken to clearly understand the genome homology of 3 species viz. E. intermedia, E. floccifolia and E. tristachya vis-a-vis the A genome of E. indica and to analyze the interspecific relationship among these diploid species and their possible contribution to the evolution of E. coracana. Interspecific F1 hybrids of E. intermedia×E. indica, E. intermedia×E. floccifolia and E. tristachya×E. intermedia were produced and studied for morphological and cytological details. The experimental data revealed a high degree of homology at the interspecific level among all 4 species resulting in high frequency of bivalents and a very low frequency of univalents and multivalents. Inspite of good chromosome pairing and bivalent formation, a significant reduction in pollen stainability (8–32%) has been recorded in the F1 hybrids. The data obtained on chromosome associations at diakinesis/ metaphase I of meiosis suggest that these diploid species form a close genetic assemblage within the genus Eleusine. Various factors affecting the pollen stainability and seed fertility are discussed in the light of available information on the subject.
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