HYBRIDIZATION AND INTROGRESSION IN THE GRASS GENUS ELYMUS

Brown , W. V., and G. A. Pratt . (U. Texas, Austin.) Hybridization and introgression in the grass genus Elymus. Amer. Jour. Bot. 47 (8) : 669–676. Illus. 1960.—The production of artificial F₁ hybrids that produce some seed between E. virginicus and E. canadensis, E. virginicus and E. interruptus, and E. canadensis and E. interruptus proves that similar plants found in nature are true hybrids. The artificial hybrids constituted the basis of comparison in an analysis of natural local populations in the Austin region. Analysis by scatter diagrams indicates that there is introgression of genes of some species into the genomes of others through the development of hybrid swarms. In the area studied the great variability of virginicus is due to the introgression of canadensis and, possibly, interruptus genes. Such hybridization and subsequent introgression have occurred many times and in many places and are still taking place. It is likely that the named varieties of canadensis and virginicus may be introgressant types that are the results of hybridizations between those species and others that occur sympatrically in Eastern United States.     

THE EXPERIMENTAL FORMATION OF POLYPLOIDY AND ITS EFFECT IN THE GENUS MUSA

Polyploidy was induced in two Musa species and their hybrid by means of immersing newly germinated diploid seedlings in 0.5% aq. colchicine solution. Tetraploid M. balbisiana plants were taller and more robust but had slower growth rate, droopier leaves, fewer suckers, and scantier root systems than the diploids. Tetraploidy affected fruit size and shape in M. balbisiana and in M. acuminata. Tetraploidy did not affect bunch size (the number of fruit-bearing nodes) in M. acuminata banksii but caused great reduction in bunch size of M. acuminata microcarpa ‘Zebrina.’ Doubling of the chromosome number resulted in doubling of the anthocyanin concentration in the leaves of the pigmented banana plants. Colchicine-induced female sterility was detected in a treated diploid plant of M. acuminata subsp. microcarpa. A number of either female or male, or both female and male sterile plants were encountered in colchicine-induced tetraploid M. acuminata species. Only one secondary M. balbisiana tetraploid plant was found to be partially female sterile. Colchicine treatment of the seedlings resulted in chromosomal irregularities at mitosis. Chromosomes appeared as open chains, rings and multiple configurations at metaphase. In the majority of cases doubled chromsomal complements reverted to their original number. However, there were cases in which diploids were induced to tetraploidy and later reverted to triploidy instead of diploidy. Also, there were cases in which triploids were doubled to hexaploidy and later reverted to tetraploidy instead of triploidy. From the close morphological similarity between a number of triploid and tetraploid M. balbisiana plants and some edible triploid cultigens belonging to the “ABB Group,” it is suggested that the karyotype of some of these cultigens could be “BBB” rather than “ABB” which contains one “A” M. acuminata genome. New pathways and additional evolutionary possibilities are incorporated into Simmonds’ scheme on the evolution of edible bananas.     

INTERACTION OF LIGHT QUALITY AND NUCLEASES IN THE GROWTH OF THE GAMETOPHYTES OF ASPLENIUM NIDUS

Appropriate concentrations of ribonuclease A and B selectively inhibited initiation of two-dimensional morphology in the gametophytes of Asplenium nidus, grown under a photoperiod of 5½ hr white light. Filamentous growth was promoted in such sporelings, the individual cells of which were significantly longer than corresponding cells of the control. Higher concentrations of enzymes were required to inhibit two-dimensional growth in the gametophytes grown in blue light. Concentrations of ribonuclease A or B which inhibited two-dimensional growth in white light promoted growth in length of the protonema in red light. Growth modifications in the sporelings induced by deoxyribonuclease in different light conditions were similar to those induced by the ribonucleases. The results lend further support to the postulated role of RNA in the regulation of two-dimensional growth in fern gametophytes.     

APICAL DOMINANCE,POLARITY, AND ADVENTITIOUS GROWTH IN MARCHANTIA POLYMORPHA

Benzylaminopurine, indoleacetic acid, and the auxin inhibitors transcinnamic acid, triiodobenzoic acid, and dinitrophenol were employed to elucidate the role of apical dominance and hormones during regeneration of thalli and gemmae of Marchantia polymorpha L. The cytokinin suppressed normal gemma germination and led to the development of nodular, callus-like growths. When removed from the influence of benzylaminopurine, the site and magnitude of normal thallus outgrowths varied with the length of time that the tissue had remained on the cytokinin-containing medium. This aberrant germination was not influenced by the incorporation of indoleacetic acid into the medium. Exogenous auxin neither accelerated nor inhibited the regeneration of normal thallus growth on excised vegetative discs. Transcinnamic acid and dinitrophenol inhibited regeneration. Auxin reversed this suppression. Triiodobenzoic acid did not significantly affect regeneration. Autoradiographs demonstrated a pronounced accumulation of labelled auxin in the midribs and the acropetal regions of excised thallus discs. This evidence suggests that there is an endogenous, basipetal auxin gradient in Marchantia; that the maintenance of this gradient is vital to normal growth and regeneration of the thallus; and that high endogenous concentrations of cytokinin destroy this polarity by increasing the auxin-synthesizing capacity of the tissue.     

INTERGENERIC HYBRIDIZATION,INDUCED POLYPLOIDY,AND THE ORIGIN OF THE HAWAIIAN ENDEMIC LIPOCHAETA FROM WEDELIA (COMPOSITAE)

The genetic relationships of the Hawaiian endemic genus Lipochaeta and the nearly cosmopolitan but extra-Hawaiian genus Wedelia were assessed by way of experimental hybridization. Hybrids between Wedelia biflora and diploid species of Lipochaeta consistently exhibited 15 pairs of chromosomes at meiosis, whereas the modal and maximum configuration seen in hybrids between W. biflora and tetraploid species of Lipochaeta was 15_II + 11_I. Meiotic pairing in microsporocytes of the intergeneric hybrid combinations involving Wedelia trilobata and both sections of Lipochaeta is lower than in intergeneric hybrids involving W. biflora. All of the intergeneric F, hybrids produced had relatively low pollen stainabilities ranging from less than 1–16% and, although they were vegetatively vigorous, they failed to produce viable achenes. The effects of chromosome doubling by colchicine in one species and several hybrids in Lipochaeta and in one intergeneric hybrid between Lipochaeta and Wedelia were studied. Chromosome doubling of the diploid species caused a decrease in pollen stainability and resulted in lack of achene production, whereas doubling the chromosomes of sterile intersectional and intergeneric hybrids restored female fertility and effected a dramatic increase in pollen stainability. Cytological analysis of the microsporocytes at diakinesis and metaphase I revealed pairs and quadrivalents in the induced polyploids. Pollen measurements indicated that pollen size in Lipochaeta is correlated with doubling of the chromosomes. Statistical analyses revealed that there is no significant difference in pollen size between the diploids and natural tetraploids, whereas both groups have pollen grains that are significantly smaller than the induced autotetraploid, the intergeneric allotetraploid, and the intersectional allohexaploid. The cytogenetic evidence indicates a relatively close genetic relationship between Wedelia and Lipochaeta and supports the view that the ancestry of the diploid section Aphanopappus of Lipochaeta (n = 15) is to be found in a species akin to Wedelia biflora (n = 15) and that this or a similar 15-paired wedelioid species and an unknown 11-paired wedelioid taxon are involved in the alloploid hybrid origin of the tetraploid section Lipochaeta (n = 26) of Lipochaeta.     

ACTION OF PURINE AND PYRIMIDINE ANALOGS ON THE GROWTH AND DIFFERENTIATION OF THE GAMETOPHYTES OF THE FERN ASPLENIUM NIDUS

The purine analogs, 8-azaadenine, 8-azaguanine, 8-azaxanthine and 8-azahypoxanthine, and the pyrimidine analogs, 2-thiocytosine, 5-fluorouracil, 2-thiouracil and 6-azauracil, inhibited the induction of 2-dimensional growth in the gametophytes of the fern Asplenium nidus L. In contrast, thymine analogs such as 5-fluorodeoxyuridine, 2-thiothymine, 6-azathymine and 5-bromouracil caused non-specific growth inhibitions without suppressing 2-dimensional growth. Subinhibitory concentrations of 8-azaxanthine, 8-azahypoxanthine, and 2-thiouracil promoted both 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional phases of growth of the gametophytes. Inhibitory effects of the analogs were observed on treatment of the spores or of gametophytes of different ages. Gametophytes growing in the analogs for different periods of time recovered from inhibition on transfer to the basal medium.     

HYBRIDIZATION IN THE GENUS GLYCINE SUBGENUS GLYCINE WILLD. (LEGUMINOSAE,PAPILIONOIDEAE)

The genus Glycine is composed of two subgenera, Glycine and Soja. Soja includes the cultivated soybean, G. max, and its wild annual counterpart G. soja, while Glycine includes seven wild perennial species. Hybridization was carried out within and between wild perennial species of the subgenus Glycine. The success rate (pods set/flowers crossed) was 11% for intraspecific and 8% for interspecific crosses. A total of 220 F₁ hybrids was examined morphologically and cytologically where possible. Hybrids within G. canescens (2n = 40) and G. latifolia (2n = 40) were fertile as expected. Glycine clandestina (2n = 40) was morphologically separable into at least three groups, which produced fertile hybrids within each group. One cross between two groups gave vegetatively vigorous but sterile hybrids. The majority of crosses within G. tabacina (2n = 80) were fertile, except that extremely narrow-leaved forms gave sterile hybrids in combination with more usual forms. Sterility was also encountered in G. tomentella when aneuploids (2n = 78) from New South Wales, Australia, were crossed with tetraploids (2n = 80) from either Queensland, Australia, or Taiwan; crosses between the latter two populations resulted in seedling lethality. Cytological behavior of sterile hybrids followed a similar pattern, whether at the diploid or tetraploid level. The frequency of chromosome pairing was approximately half that expected if genomes showed full pairing homology. Bivalent disjunction at anaphase I was usually followed by precocious division of the majority of univalents. Telophase I and II were characterized by lagging chromosomes and micronuclei, so that resulting pollen was misshapen and sterile. Chromosome pairing data from sterile intraspecific hybrids at the tetraploid level may indicate a polyphyletic origin of tetraploids, whereby different diploid populations were involved in their formation. Similarly, chromosome pairing in sterile intraspecific diploid hybrids may indicate that the various diploid groups arose independently of one another. Both 40- and 80-chromosome forms are fully diploidized, however, and if they are of ancient origin, divergence since that time could have resulted in the chromosomal differentiation which becomes apparent when intraspecific hybridization is effected. Diploid (2n = 40) interspecific hybrids G. falcata × G. canescens, and G. falcata × G. tomentella grew poorly and did not reach flowering stage. Diploid (2n = 40) crosses between G. latifolia and G. tomentella produced inviable seedlings. Tetraploid (2n = 80) hybrids between G. tomentella and G. tabacina were vegetatively vigorous but sterile owing to low chromosome pairing at meiosis, indicating little pairing homology between the two species. Diploid hybrids between G. canescens and G. clandestina, however, showed almost complete chromosome pairing at diakinesis and partial fertility. Although morphologically distinct, these two species have not diverged sufficiently to prevent hybridization and possible gene exchange through recombination. Self compatibility, perennial growth habit, and geographic isolation have favored divergence among Glycine populations to the point that gene exchange appears no longer possible in many cases. Internal isolating mechanisms have been shown to operate at various levels of plant development from hybrid lethality at seedling stage, to failure of seed-set in sterile but vegetatively vigorous hybrids.     

EFFECTS OF DIFFERENTIAL POLLEN-TUBE GROWTH ON HYBRIDIZATION IN THE LOUISIANA IRISES

To elucidate the importance of hybridization in evolution, it is necessary to understand the processes that affect hybridization frequency in nature. Here we focus on postpollination, prefertilization isolating mechanisms using two hybridizing species of Louisiana iris as a study system. We compared the effects of differential pollen-tube growth on the frequency of F₁ hybrid formation in experimental crosses between Iris fulva and Iris hexagona. Analyses of seed production in fruits from pure conspecific and heterospecific pollinations revealed that more seeds were produced in the top half than the bottom half of fruits for all four crosses. Heterospecific pollen was applied to flowers of each species at zero to 24 h prior to conspecific pollen, thereby giving a head start to the foreign pollen. Using diagnostic isozyme markers, the frequency of hybrid progeny was examined at the level of the whole fruit and separately for the top and bottom halves of fruits. In both species, the proportion of hybrid seeds per fruit increased significantly with increasing head starts, suggesting that differences in pollen-tube growth rates affect the frequency of hybridization. In I. fulva fruits, the increase in hybrid seeds occurred in both halves of the fruits, but in I. hexagona an increase was only detected in the top half of fruits. These findings are consistent with a model that assumes attrition of pollen tubes due to the greater length of I. hexagona styles. While pollen-tube growth rate appears to be the most important factor affecting hybridization frequency in I. fulva, both pollen-tube growth rate and pollen-tube attrition appear to be important in I. hexagona.     

金粟兰属植物根的组织发育研究

观察金粟兰属7种、4变种植物不定根的组织发育,发现本属大多数植物不定根具有典型的单子叶植物不定根的组织特征,特别是在同一条根中初生木质部的脊数可以随根的发育而增加。双子叶植物和单子叶植物根的组织学系统发育不仅在本属大多数种内不定根的个体发育中得以重演,而且在属内种间得以重演。