The mechanisms of variation of subtelomeric repeats Spelt1 in the progeny of introgressive line Triticum aestivum L. × Aegilops speltoides Tausch.

Abstract

Quantitative variation of species-specific subtelomeric repeat Speltl was studied in the progeny of an individual accession from the introgressive line Triticum aestivum x Aegilops speltoides. In the progeny, no cases of the Speltl increased content were observed. On the contrary, in some cases statistically significant decrease of the repeat copy number was detected. It seems likely that the mechanisms of the Spelt1 elimination involve either the selection at the gamete level versus the increase of the satellite DNA content in the telomeres, or intramolecular (within one chromatid) homologous recombination.