The effect of B chromosomes on fitness components inAegilops speltoides Tausch

The effect of B chromosomes (Bs) on various components of vigour and fertility inAegilops speltoides was studied. We designed three types of synthetic populations. In the first type we compared plants from the localities Haifa (which has Bs in nature) and Ashkelon (which has not). Non significant differences were found between the plants from both populations, and between B carriers and non carriers among Haifa individuals. In the second synthetic population we compared 0B, 1B, 2B, 3B and 5B plants from Haifa. We found that vigour variables were not affected by the presence of Bs, while fertility variables were significantly correlated with B number, in such a way that 1B plants produce more grains per plant than any other constitution, while 5Bs produce a remarkable deleterious effect. In the third type of synthetic populations we compared plants with 0B and 1B, 0B and 2B, 0B and 3B, and 0B and 5B. In this case we also found that 1B plants were the most fertile, but the variation of reproductive fitness was higher from plot to plot within the same B class than among B classes. We conclude that the effect of B chromosomes on the fitness variables that we have estimated is close to neutrality in this species. We discuss the relation between the strength of the mechanism of accumulation and the deleterious effects of B chromosomes.     

Inheritance of B chromosomes in garden roses

Transmission of B chromosomes in tetraploid (2n=28) garden roses was studied. A total of 1 304 seeds were used in the experiment which were obtained from various crossings and selfings made between two 1B and four 0B parents. B chromosomes were inherited in only 51 plants out of a progeny of 143. In the progeny 1B was more common in occurrence than 2Bs. About 17% of the plants were aneuploids. In general, the b chromosomes adversely affected survival, vigour and pollen fertility of the progeny plants.This work is a part of a Ph.D. thesis of the University of London (1980).     

Unstable B chromosomes in Silene maritima With. (Caryophyllaceae)

Unstable B chromosomes in Silene maritima With. (Carophyllaceae). B chromosomes have been found in 7 out of 39 populations of Silene maritima With. (Carophyllaceae) studied. These 7 populations are all from the Norfolk coast. The B chromosome is small, 0.8 μm long, telocentric and appears euchromatic. Within plants the B chromosome is highly unstable with different numbers in cells of the same root or pollen mother cells (pmcs) of an anther. The transmission of the Bs is efficient and in controlled crosses progeny plants usually have higher mean B frequencies than the B-containing parents. At metaphase I the pairing behaviour of the Bs is variable and they often appear as univalents. In general the presence of Bs in pmcs results in an increase in chiasma frequency/cell and populations with Bs have higher mean chiasma frequencies than those without Bs. Cloned plants grown under stress conditions induced by the addition of NaCl to a nutrient solution showed no difference in mean B number/cell or distribution when compared with controls grown in nutrient solution only.     

Greater ability of pollen tube growth in rye plants with 2B chromosomes

Summary To contribute to knowledge on the significance of B chromosomes in rye populations, a component of fertility has been estimated by a comparative study of germination and growth of pollen tubes in plants with and without B chromosomes. The highest percentage germination of pollen and mean speed of pollen tube growth was shown by 14 + 2B plants, followed by normal plants.Observations of first pollen mitosis indicated that in most cases the chromatid constitution of the tube nucleus was the same in 14, 14 + 1 and 14 + 2B plants. In contrast, the mean growth rate of pollen tubes differed significantly among the three cases. From these data it seems that the determination of germination ability and pollen tube growth depends on the sporophyte and is related to the number of Bs carried by the plant.     

TRANSMISSION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF B CHROMOSOMES IN ANTHURIUM WAROCQUEANUM

Somatic and meiotic chromosomes of one plant of Anthurium warocqueanum J. Moore and its selfed offspring were analyzed. The parent showed 2n = 30 + 3B in both somatic cells and pollen mother cells. The B chromosomes divided normally in somatic cells, but meiotic associations of Bs varied. Three configurations of three B chromosomes were observed at metaphase I of parent meiosis: one trivalent, one bivalent and one univalent, or three univalents. The number of B chromosomes in offspring ranged from 0 to 6, indicating their transmission from both male and female gametes. Offspring with two B chromosomes appeared in greatest frequency. It was hypothesized that both male and female gametes of the 3 B parent frequently contained one B chromosome through the normal distribution of the bivalent Bs at meiosis and the elimination of the univalent B chromosome due to lagging. Examination of pollen mother cells of offspring also revealed irregular behavior of B chromosomes. With a high number of B chromosomes, normal A chromosome bivalent formation seemed to be reduced. No phenotypic effects of B chromosomes were observed.     

High efficiency production and genomic in situ hybridization analysis of Brassica aneuploids and homozygous plants

Inplantbreedingandgeneticresearch,karyotypicallystablecrosseswhichproducehybridplantshavebeenextensivelyusedtointroduceintocropsthetargettraitsandgenesfromrelatedwildorcultivatedspeciesortoconstructstocksforgeneticanalysis(alienchromosomeadditions,substitutionsandtranslocations)[1—3].Uniparentalgenomeeliminationinkaryotypicallyunstablehybridshasbeenutilizedforhaploidproduction[2,4].Becausetheartificiallysynthesizedallopoly-ploidscannotbeusedascropsformanyreasons,onepurposeofwidehybridizations…     

High efficiency production and genomic<Emphasis Type="Italic">in situ</Emphasis> hybridization analysis of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica</Emphasis> aneuploids and homozygous plants

Interspecific and intergeneric hybridizations have been widely used in plant genetics and breeding to construct stocks for genetic analysis and to introduce into crops the desirable traits and genes from their relatives. The intergeneric crosses between Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. & Coss., B. carinata A. Braun and Orychophragmus violaceus (L.) O. E. Schulz were made and the plants produced were subjected to genomic in situ hybridization analysis. The mixoploids from the cross with B. juncea were divided into three groups. The partially fertile mixoploids in the first group (2n = 36-42) mainly contained the somatic cells and pollen mother cells (PMCs) with the 36 chromosomes of B. juncea and additional chromosomes of O. violaceus. The mixoploids (2n = 30-36) in the second and third groups were morphologically quite similar to the mother plants B. juncea and showed nearly normal fertility. The plants in the second group produced the majority of PMCs (2n = 36) with their chromosomes paired and segregated normally, but 1-4 pairs of the O. violaceus chromosomes were included in some PMCs. The plants in the third group produced only PMCs with the 36 B. juncea chromosomes, which were paired and segregated normally. The mixoploids (2n = 29-34) from the cross with B. carinata produced the majority of PMCs (2n = 34) with normal chromosome pairing and segregation, but some plants had some PMCs with 1-3 pairs of chromosomes from O. violaceus and other plants had only PMCs with the B. carinata chromosomes. The Brassica homozygous plants and aneuploids with complete or partial chromosome complements of Brassica parents and various numbers of O. violaceus chromosomes were derived from these progeny plants. The results in this study provided the molecular cytogenetic evidence for the separation of parental genomes which was previously proposed to occur in the hybridizations of these two genera.     

Relationship between pachytene synapsis, metaphase I associations, and transmission of 2B and 4B chromosomes in rye.

2B rye plants selected for high (H) or low (L) B transmission rate were studied at pachytene and metaphase I of meiosis to determine the relationship between synapsis, bivalents at metaphase I, and B transmission rate. The results show that the 2 B chromosomes (Bs) form bivalents at pachytene in both the H and L lines, whereas the frequency of bivalents at metaphase I is much higher in the H than in the L line. This demonstrates that B transmission is mainly related to the proper association of Bs at metaphase I, as well as that synapsis of the 2 Bs in the L line is normal, but the bivalent is not consolidated by a chiasma in most cases. Crosses were made between 2B plants of the H and L lines in all combinations (H x H, H x L, L x H, and L x L) to obtain 4B plants. Similarly, bivalent formation at pachytene and metaphase I was studied. The results show that 4B plants of the H x H and L x L classes differ significantly at pachytene and metaphase I since the former forms more bivalents. The heterozygous 4 Bs of the H x L and L x H classes show intermediate values. The relation H x H > H x L > L x H > L x L was consistently found for the variables transmission rate, bivalents at pachytene, bivalents at metaphase I, and B mean chiasma frequency. A maternal effect was also found. Our data suggest that there are two separate mechanisms acting upon synapsis and chiasma formation in H and L B chromosomes: (i) there is variable efficiency of the control of synapsis at early stages of meiosis; and (ii) there is variable efficiency of the control of the number of chiasmata.     

Localization of the genes controlling B chromosome transmission rate in maize (Zea mays ssp. mays, Poaceae)

In previous papers we found that the frequency of B chromosomes in native races of maize varies considerably in different populations. Moreover, we found genotypes that control high and low transmission rates (TR) of B chromosomes in the Pisingallo race. In the present work crosses were made to determine whether the genes controlling B-TR are located on the normal chromosome set (As) or on the B chromosomes (Bs). We made female f.0B × male m.2B crosses between and within high (H) and low (L) B-TR groups. The Bs were transmitted on the male side in all cases. The mean B-TR from the progeny of f.0B (H) × m.2B (H) and f.0B (H) × m.2B (L) crosses was significantly higher than that from f.0B (L) × m.2B (L) and f.0B (L) × m.2B (H) crosses. The results show that the B-TR of the crosses corresponds to the H or L B-TR of the 0B female parents irrespective of the Bs of the male parent. This indicates that B-TR is genetically controlled by the 0B female parent and that these genes are located on the A chromosomes.     

Stable progeny production of the amphidiploid resynthesized Brassica napus cv. Hanakkori, a newly bred vegetable

Resynthesized Brassica napus cv. Hanakkori (AACC, 2n?=?38) was produced by cross-hybridization between B. rapa (AA, 2n?=?20) and B. oleracea (CC, 2n?=?18) as a new vegetative crop. Many studies have provided evidences for the instability and close relationship between A and C genome in the resynthesized B. napus cultivars. In fact, seed produced to obtain progeny in Hanakkori had unstable morphological characters and generated many off-type plants. In this study, we investigated the pollen fertility, chromosome number, structure, and behavior linked to various Hanakkori phenotypes to define factors of unstable phenotypic expression in the progeny. Hanakkori phenotypes were categorized into five types. The results of pollen fertility, chromosome number, and fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis for somatic mitosis cells indicated that the off-type plants had lower pollen fertility, aberrant chromosome number, and structures with small chromosome fragments. Observation of chromosomes at meiosis showed that the meiotic division in off-type plants led to appreciably higher abnormalities than in on-type plants. However, polyvalent chromosomes were observed frequently in both on- and off-type plants in diplotene stage of meiosis. We assume that the unstable morphological characters in resynthesized progeny were the result of abnormal division in meiosis. It results as important that the plants of normal phenotype, chromosome structure and minimized abnormal meiosis are selected to stabilize progeny.     

RFLP analysis of the progeny from Oryza alta Swallen x Oryza sativa L.

RFLP analyses were carried out in the progeny from a cross of two phylogenetically distant rice species, wild rice Oryza alta Swallen (CCDD, 2n = 48) and cultivated rice O. sativa L. (AA, 2n = 24). The sterile plants gave heterozygous RFLP patterns at most of the loci detected. They looked more like their wild rice parent, with 36 chromosomes in their root-tip cells and pollen mother cells. In two partially fertile plants, however, most of the markers that were used showed RFLP patterns similar to the cultivated parent, O. sativa. By cytological study, it was found that nearly one-third of the chromosomes had been eliminated in the partially fertile plants. Their seeds have short awns, which is a characteristic of their wild parent, O. alta. An introgression occurred in one of the partially fertile plants, which led to the discussion about a nonconventional mechanism in wide hybridization for transference of wild rice chromosome segments to cultivated rice chromosomes.     

大白菜与紫甘蓝种间杂种的获得与鉴定

以不同类型的大白菜与紫甘蓝为材料,运用蕾期授粉结合胚挽救技术获得大白菜与紫甘蓝的种间杂种,并对其进行细胞学鉴定.结果表明,大白菜与紫甘蓝杂交,获得了57株F1代幼苗;对根尖染色体数量进行观察和杂种花粉特性调查发现,其中47株具有预期的染色体数目,2n =19,鉴定为真杂种,其花粉败育;另有6株具有38条染色体,鉴定为种间异源双二倍体,应该是发生了染色体自然加倍,其花粉可育.可育的杂种F1代与大白菜回交,获得了大白菜-紫甘蓝BC1代材料.田间观测结果显示,杂种F1代植株综合性状均介于双亲之间,BC1代植株包球明显,综合性状偏向母本大白菜.     

Rye B chromosome behaviour at first and second pollen mitosis and its relationship with anther maturity

Summary Rye plants carrying B chromosomes with different nuclear and cytoplasmic constitutions have been analyzed at first pollen mitosis. No differences of B chromosome behaviour have been detected. It has been concluded that non-disjunction and preferential distribution are processes controlled by Bs themselves.At second pollen anaphase, B laggards have been observed. Both non-disjunction and B laggards occurred with higher frequency in younger anthers.     

A Moricandia arvensis– based cytoplasmic male sterility and fertility restoration system in Brassica juncea

 A cytoplasmic male-sterility system has been developed in mustard (Brassica juncea) following repeated backcrossings of the somatic hybrid Moricandia arvensis (2n=28, MM)+B. juncea (2n=36, AABB), carrying mitochondria and chloroplasts from M. arvensis, to Brassica juncea. Cytoplasmic male-sterile (CMS) plants are similar to normal B. juncea; however, the leaves exhibit severe chlorosis resulting in delayed flowering. Flowers are normal with slender, non-dehiscent anthers and excellent nectaries. CMS plants show regular meiosis with pollen degeneration occurring during microsporogenesis. Female fertility was normal. Genetic information for fertility restoration was introgressed following the development of a M. arvensis monosomic addition line on CMS B. juncea. The additional chromosome paired allosyndetically with one of the B. juncea bivalents and allowed introgression. The putative restorer plant also exhibited severe chlorosis similar to CMS plants but possessed 89% and 73% pollen and seed fertility, respectively, which subsequently increased to 96% and 87% in the selfed progeny. The progeny of the cross of CMS line with the restorer line MJR-15, segregated into 1 fertile : 1 sterile. The CMS (Moricandia) B. juncea, the restorer (MJR-15), and fertility restored F₁ plants possess similar cytoplasmic organellar genomes as revealed by ‘Southern’ analysis. Received: 17 September 1997 / Accepted: 18 February 1998     

B-chromosome condensation inPhleum pollen grains

Pollen grains were investigated in 11 specimens ofPhleum Boehmeri Wib. [P. phleoides (L.) Karst.] differing in the number of B-chromosomes (2n=14+0–3B). In some uninucleate pollen grains there were seen large chromocentres, not observed in other tissues. They resembled meiotically and mitotically condensed Bs both in size and shape. They occurred only in plants with 2 or 3 Bs. In the plants with 2 Bs, 2.5% pollen grains had a nucleus with 1 chromocentre; in the plants with 3 Bs, 41.4% of uninucleate pollen grains had 1 chromocentre and 0.2% of grains had 2 chromocentres. Comparison of the frequency of Bs in the metaphase of the first pollen mitosis and that of chromocentres in the nuclei of the uninucleate pollen grains was carried out. The author suggests that in pollen-grain nuclei one B chromosome per genome remains decondensed, and every next one (if it occurs) forms a chromocentre.     

Study on Genetic Behaviour of B Chromosomes at Meiosis in Agropyron Gaertn

The chromosomal behaviour at meiosis in pollen mother cells of 33 sample materials from 4 species in Agropyron Gaerm. distributed over various regions in China were observed. We. found that B chromosomes were mainly-present in A. mongolicum Keng (2n=2x=14) and were absent in the tetraploid ,A. cristarum (L.) Gaertn. (2n=4x=28) and ,A. michnoi Roshev. (2n=4x=28). Of all A. desertorum (Fisch.) Schult. (2n=4x=28) populations, they were present in 40%. The pairing between even numbers of B chromosomes usually occured at diakinesis where as uneven numbers of B chromosomes at metaphase 1. B chromosomes at anaphase I separated at random. The Fagging Bs tended to reach two poles by chromatids through precocious division of Bs. The pairing and chiasma frequencies between A chromosomes were increased by the larger numbers of Bs. The relationship between B chromosomes and species ploidy, the homeology among Bs, etc were discussed.     

The B-chromosome system of Allium schoenoprasum

Nine morphologically distinct euchromatic B-chromosomes have been identified in Allium schoenoprasum from the River Wye, South Wales. The most common type (89%) is telocentric (B^t–1) and it is likely that the non-standard Bs are derivatives of B^t–1 by deletion, centric shift and/or centric misdivision. New B-types have also been produced from standard Bs in controlled crosses. In general, the Bs are mitotically extremely stable, although occasional plants, particularly those carrying non-standard Bs, are conspicuously variable in their B-constitution between root-tip cells. In addition, B-chromosome number is enhanced in some anthers of about one third of plants. Behaviour of B-chromosomes during meiosis is described. Although there is little bivalent formation, less than 5% of the Bs are lost during meiosis in anthers. There is, however, no evidence of B-chromosome accumulation in the offspring of controlled crosses, usually a slight loss, and Bs have deleterious effects on aspects of vigour and fertility. Thus, no satisfactory explanation for populations with up to 65% B-containing individuals has yet been found.     

Introduction of a gene from fertility restored radish (Raphanus sativus) into Brassica napus by fusion of X-irradiated protoplasts from a radish restorer line and iodacetoamide-treated protoplasts from a cytoplasmic male-sterile cybrid of B. napus

To establish a cytoplasmic male-sterile/restored fertility (cms-Rf) system for F₁ seed production in Brassica napus, we transferred a gene from fertillity restored radish to B. napus by protoplast fusion. X-irradiated protoplasts, isolated from shoots of Raphanus sativus cv Kosena (Rf line), were fused with iodoacetamide-treated protoplasts of a B. napus cms cybrid. Among 300 regenerated plants, six were male-fertile. The fertile plants were characterized for petal color, chromosome number and the percentage of viable pollen grains. Three fertile plants had aneuploid chromosome numbers and white or cream petals, which is a dominant marker in radish. Of these three plants, one which had 2n = 47 chromosomes and white petals was used for further backcrosses. After two backcrosses, chromosome number and petal color became identical to that of B. napus. No female sterility was observed in the BC₃ generations.     

Disomic and ditelosomic alien chromosome additions in beet (Beta vulgaris), carrying an extra chromosome of B. procumbens or telosome of B. patellaris.

Alien chromosome transmission through the female germ line as well as meiosis in pollen mother cells were studied in disomic and ditelosomic alien chromosome additions of beet. Beta vulgaris, carrying an extra pair of chromosomes or telosomes of B. procumbens or B. patellaris, respectively. The alien chromosomes carried genes for resistance to the beet cyst nematode, Heterodera schachtii, and screening for this resistance was used to select plants with or without the alien chromosomes. A great variation for alien chromosome transmission was recorded and plants carrying two extra alien chromosomes were recovered in the backcross progenies of the disomic or ditelosomic additions. However, in these progenies the average frequencies of plants without alien chromosomes (86%) did not clearly differ from that in similar progenies of the original monosomic or monotelosomic chromosome additions, indicating that doubling the number of the alien chromosome did not enlarge their transmission to the next generation. The alien chromosomes fully paired at pachytene and desynapsed again before diakinesis, indicating decreased chiasma formation. At second metaphase nearly 60% of the cells had one extra chromosome, and the remaining cells carried two or no extra chromosomes in about equal proportions. The tetrads looked fully normal. The expected relation between the average number of alien chromosomes in the germ cells and in the plants of the progenies did not show up, indicating a strong selection favouring the female gametes without alien chromosomes.     

Expression of CMS in zygotic and apozygotic progenies of sugar beet Beta vulgaris L

Zygotic and apozygotic progenies of sugar beet exhibit high phenotypic variation with respect to cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS). There are progenies with completely sterile, semisterile, semifertile, and fertile pollen. The proportions of semifertile and fertile plants in zygotic and apozygotic progenies varied from zero to 28% and from zero to 17.8%, respectively. Comparison of the phenotypic distributions in zygotic and apozygotic progenies did not reveal significant differences in the CMS expression, although the latter is determined by the maternal S-plasmotype and both maternal and paternal (pollinator) genotypes in zygotic progenies and only by the maternal S-plasmotype and genotype in apozygotic progenies. It has been hypothesized that the instability of the CMS expression in apozygotic progenies is determined by epigenetic variation in the activities of the genes that control the maintenance of the pollen-grain sterility. Inactivated dominant alleles Rf1(0) and Rf2(0) in homozygous state may function as sterility maintenance genes, whereas activation of these alleles during ontogeny results in a partial or complete restoration of pollen-grain fertility. It was demonstrated that pollen fertility of mother plants with S cytoplasm did not affect the CMS expression in two sib progenies. Conversely, in two other progenies, the proportion of fertile plants was significantly higher in the sib progenies of mother plants with fertile pollen and S cytoplasm (inheritance of epigenetic variation).