A chromosome-specific sequence common to the B genome of polyploid wheat and Aegilops searsii

A low-copy, non-coding chromosome-specific DNA sequence, isolated from common wheat, was physically mapped to the distal 19% region of the long arm of chromosome 3B (3BL) of common wheat. This sequence, designated WPG118, was then characterized by Southern hybridization, PCR amplification and sequence comparison using a large collection of polyploid wheats and diploid Triticum and Aegilops species. The data show that the sequence exists in all polyploid wheats containing the B genome and absent from those containing the G genome. At the diploid level, it exists only in Ae. searsii, a diploid species of section Sitopsis, and not in other diploids including Ae. speltoides, the closest extant relative to the donor of the B genome of polyploid wheat. This finding may support the hypothesis that the B-genome of polyploid wheat is of a polyphyletic origin, i.e. it is a recombined genome derived from two or more diploid Aegilops species.     

Coevolution in Hybrid Genomes: Nuclear-Encoded Rubisco Small Subunits and Their Plastid-Targeting Translocons Accompanying Sequential Allopolyploidy Events in Triticum

The Triticum/Aegilops complex includes hybrid species resulting from homoploid hybrid speciation and allopolyploid speciation. Sequential allotetra- and allohexaploidy events presumably result in two challenges for the hybrids, which involve 1) cytonuclear stoichiometric disruptions caused by combining two diverged nuclear genomes with the maternal inheritance of the cytoplasmic organellar donor; and 2) incompatibility of chimeric protein complexes with diverged subunits from nuclear and cytoplasmic genomes. Here, we describe coevolution of nuclear rbcS genes encoding the small subunits of Rubisco (ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) and nuclear genes encoding plastid translocons, which mediate recognition and translocation of nuclear-encoded proteins into plastids, in allopolyploid wheat species. We demonstrate that intergenomic paternal-to-maternal gene conversion specifically occurred in the genic region of the homoeologous rbcS3 gene from the D-genome progenitor of wheat (abbreviated as rbcS3D) such that it encodes a maternal-like or B-subgenome-like SSU3D transit peptide in allohexaploid wheat but not in allotetraploid wheat. Divergent and limited interaction between SSU3D and the D-subgenomic TOC90D translocon subunit is implicated to underpin SSU3D targeting into the chloroplast of hexaploid wheat. This implicates early selection favoring individuals harboring optimal maternal-like organellar SSU3D targeting in hexaploid wheat. These data represent a novel dimension of cytonuclear evolution mediated by organellar targeting and transportation of nuclear proteins.     

The origins of the genomes of Triticum biunciale,t. ovatum,t. neglectum,t. columnare,and t. rectum (poaceae) based on variation in repeated nucleotide sequences

The origins of the genomes of allotetraploid species Triticum biunciale, T. ovatum, T. neglectum, and T. columnare, and allohexaploid T. rectum were investigated by examining the presence of specific restriction fragments of repeated nucleotide sequences in DNAs of the polyploid species. The restriction fragments were detectable either in a single diploid Triticum species (unique characters) or a group of diploid species (unique shared characters). The analysis showed that Triticum biunciale and T. ovatum are closely related. In both species, one pair of genomes is closely related to the genome of T. umbellulatum and the other is a modified genome of T. comosum. The same genome formula, UUM°M°, is proposed for T. biunciale and T. ovatum. Potential reasons for the modification of the M° genome are discussed. Triticum neglectum and T. columnare are also closely related to each other and have the same genomes. They share the U genome with T. biunciale and T. ovatum, but their second pair of genomes is unrelated to the M° genome. No relationship was found of this genome to a genome of any extant diploid species of Triticum or any phylogenetic lineage leading to the extant diploid species. This unknown genome is designated X'.∗∗∗ The proposed genome formula for T. neglectum and T. columnare is UUX'X'∗∗∗. Hexaploid T. rectum originated from hybridization of one of the tetraploid species with the formula UUX'X', likely T. neglectum, with T. uniaristatum (genome N), and its genome formula is UUX'X'NN.