Genetic Relationships Among Five Basic Genomes St, E, A, B and D in Triticeae Revealed by Genomic Southern and in situ Hybridization

The St and E are two important basic genomes in the perennial tribe Triticeae （Poaceae）. They exist in many perennial species and are very closely related to the A, B and D genomes of bread wheat （Triticum aestivum L.）. Genomic Southern hybridization and genomic in situ hybridization （GISH） were used to analyze the genomic relationships between the two genomes （St and E） and the three basic genomes （A, B and D） of T. aestivum. The semi-quantitative analysis of the Southern hybridization suggested that both St and E genomes are most closely related to the D genome, then the A genome, and relatively distant to the B genome. GISH analysis using St and E genomic DNA as probes further confirmed the conclusion. St and E are the two basic genomes of Thinopyrum ponticum （StStE^eE^bE^x） and Th. intermedium （StE^eE^b）, two perennial species successfully used in wheat improvement. Therefore, this paper provides a possible answer as to why most of the spontaneous wheat-Thinopyrum translocations and substitutions usually happen in the D genome, some in the A genome and rarely in the B genome. This would develop further use of alien species for wheat improvement, especially those containing St or E in their genome components.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis> locus-linked F-box genes expressed in anthers of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hordeum bulbosum</Emphasis>

Diploid Hordeum bulbosum (a wild relative of cultivated barley) exhibits a two-locus self-incompatibility (SI) system gametophytically controlled by the unlinked multiallelic loci S and Z. This unique SI system is observed in the grasses (Poaceae) including the tribe Triticeae. This paper describes the identification and characterization of two F-box genes cosegregating with the S locus in H. bulbosum, named Hordeum S locus-linked F-box 1 (HSLF1) and HSLF2, which were derived from an S ₃ haplotype-specific clone (HAS175) obtained by previous AMF (AFLP-based mRNA fingerprinting) analysis. Sequence analysis showed that both genes encode similar F-box proteins with a C-terminal leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain, which are distinct from S locus (or S haplotype-specific) F-box protein (SLF/SFB), a class of F-box proteins identified as the pollen S determinant in S-RNase-based gametophytic SI systems. A number of homologous F-box genes with an LRR domain were found in the rice genome, although the functions of the gene family are unknown. One allele of the HSLF1 gene (HSLF1-S ₃) was expressed specifically in mature anthers, whereas no expression was detected from the other two alleles examined. Although the degree of sequence polymorphism among the three HSLF1 alleles was low, a frameshift mutation was found in one of the unexpressed alleles. The HSLF2 gene showed a low level of expression with no tissue specificity as well as little sequence polymorphism among the three alleles. The multiplicity of S locus-linked F-box genes is discussed in comparison with those found in the S-RNase-based SI system. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Nucleotide sequence data reported are available in the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under the accession numbers AB511822–AB511825 and AB511859–AB511862.     

小麦族中间鹅观草不同居群的形态多样性分析

小麦族（Triticeae）植物的野外调查、收集通常是以形态学为依据的。为了探讨小麦族植物在野外调查、收集的科学取样策略,本项研究以小麦族具有自花授粉习性的3个中间鹅观草（Roegneria sinica. var. media Keng）居群、每个居群30个单株为材料,对11个形态学性状的多样性进行了分析。结果表明,3个居群的总遗传多样性指数为1.991,遗传多样性主要集中于居群内（91.76%）,而居群间的遗传变异（8.24%）相对较小;不同取样梯度下的遗传多样性指数随单株取样数目的增加呈现增大趋势,但当取样数目达到18株时,遗传多样性指数达到最高值。上述结果说明,对于小麦族自花授粉植物野外调查、收集时,应以居群为单位,而且每一居群至少应调查、收集18个单株,才能代表居群的遗传多样性。以形态学为依据的取样策略的建立,对于指导野外调查、收集具有现实意义。     

Is the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mnr</Emphasis> locus of Triticeae species the same as the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ndh</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dia</Emphasis> loci?

The menadione reductase (MNR), the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase (NDH) and diaphorase (DIA) isozymes were studied in the allohexaploid Triticum aestivum cv ”Chinese Spring” and in five diploid Triticeae species. The Mnr1, Ndh3 and Dia1 loci were located on the chromosome arms 3AL, 3BL and 3DL of T. aestivum, respectively. These loci were also located on the 3H chromosome of Hordeum vulgare cv ”Betzes”, the 3L chromosome of Aegilops longissima and the 6RL chromosome arm of Secale cereale cv ”Imperial”. The chromosomal location results together with the segregation studies support a tetrameric behaviour of the MNR1, NDH3 and DIA1 isozymes. The Ndh1 and Dia3 loci were located on homoeologous group 4 showing a monomeric behaviour. The chromosomal locations and linkage data of the Mnr, Ndh and Dia loci suggest that Mnr1=Ndh3=Dia1; Ndh1=Dia3 and Ndh2=Dia2. Received: 3 June 2001 / Accepted: 11 July 2001     

Dynamics of Tandem Repetitive Afa-Family Sequences in Triticeae, Wheat-Related Species

The Afa-family sequences in wheat-related species, Triticeae, are tandem repetitive sequences of 340 bp. All the analyzed Triticeae species carried the sequences in their genomes, though the copy numbers varied about 100-fold among the species. The nucleotide fragments amplified by PCR were cloned and sequenced, and their behavior in the evolution of Triticeae was analyzed by the neighbor-joining (NJ) method. The sequences in genomes with many copies of this family clustered at independent branches of the phylogenic tree, whereas the sequences in genomes with a few copies did not. This may suggest that Afa-family sequences had amplified several times in the evolution of Triticeae, each using a limited number of different master copies. In addition, the sequences of the A and B genomes of hexaploid common wheat indicated that the Afa-family sequences had not evolved in a concerted manner between the genomes. Furthermore, the sequences of each chromosome of the D genome of this species indicated that the sequences had amplified on all over the D-genome chromosomes in a short period. Received: 1 September 1997 / Accepted: 19 January 1998     

Genetic studies of Triticeae dehydrins: assignment of seed proteins and a regulatory factor to map positions

 A collection of 200 wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv ‘Chinese Spring’) cytogenetic stocks (nullisomic, tetrasomic, nulli-tetrasomic, ditelosomic and deletion lines, addition and substitution stocks from intra- and inter-specific crosses) was utilized to determine the proteins encoded by some of the wheat and barley dehydrin genes, using a western blot procedure. Proteins extracted from seeds were reacted with antibodies that recognize dehydrins in a wide range of plants, including wheat and barley. Proteins encoded by dehydrin loci in chromosome arms 4DS, 5BL and 6AL of ‘Chinese Spring’ wheat were assigned by this method. There was also evidence of a regulatory factor on 5B in the vicinity of the dhn genes, and on 5H in wheat-barley addition lines, that is required for a normal level of expression of seed dehydrins in hexaploid wheat. Further understanding of this putative regulatory factor would be helpful for the interpretation of linkage studies that may relate dehydrin gene expression to phenotypes such as dehydration, salinity or low-temperature tolerance. Received: 27 August 1997 / Accepted: 4 February 1998     

Distribution of genes and recombination in wheat and other eukaryotes

The genome sizes of eukaryotes may differ as much as 10,400-fold. A part of these differences may be attributed to polyploidy, and increase in gene number and size. Most of the genome size disparity is due to non-transcribed repeated DNA including retrotransposons and pseudogenes. Only a small fraction of the larger genomes such as those of many crop plants, contain genes. Genes are distributed unevenly along the chromosomes, often organized in clusters of varying sizes and gene-densities (gene-rich regions). The regions corresponding to gene-clusters in smaller genome plants such as rice may be divided into many mini gene-clusters in the related larger genomes. The range of gene-density within the mini2019; gene-clusters is about the same among plants with varying genome sizes. Recombination per chromosome is similar among eukaryotes, and thus is considerably independent of DNA content and chromosome size. Relatively little recombination occurs outside the gene-rich regions. Recombination varies dramatically among various gene regions, and is highly uneven within gene regions as well. Consequently, a significant number of genes may be inaccessible to recombination-based manipulations such as map-based cloning.     

Tissue specificity of the sugarcane bacilliform virus promoter in oat,barley and wheat

The tissue-specificity of the sugarcane bacilliform virus (SCBV) promoter was investigated in oat, barley, and wheat to determine whether its expression pattern in one species was predictive of promoter specificity in the other closely related Gramineae species. Progeny of transgenic plants produced using constructs containing the SCBV promoter driving gusA were sampled at different stages of plant development and stained for GUS activity using a histochemical assay. Overall, the GUS staining patterns were most similar between oat and barley. In all three species, similar GUS staining patterns were observed in mature endosperms, leaves, and floral bracts of developing infloresences. No GUS staining was detected in oat embryos whereas the entire barley embryo was stained, and GUS staining was confined to the scutellum of wheat embryos. Oat and barley stems exhibited GUS staining whereas no GUS staining was observed in stems of the transgenic wheat plants. The SCBV promoter conferred strong GUS staining intensity in most tissues of oat and barley but was generally weaker in wheat. These differences in SCBV promoter specificity indicate that promoter evaluation should be conducted in the target species of interest rather than by extrapolation from expression patterns in other species.     

披碱草属及其近源属植物种子胚乳细胞多样性研究

披碱草属不仅是小麦、大麦等作物的重要基因库,也是优良牧草的重要组成部分。胚乳是麦类作物种子的重要组成部分,其重量占籽粒重量在90%以上。胚乳特性是一个相对稳定的遗传性状,可以将胚乳特性作为植物分类和系统关系的一个指标。胚乳细胞特征作为植物的一类微形态特征,在麦类植物系统分类与进化研究中具有一定的价值。该研究对小麦族的6个披碱草属(Elymus)物种、2个拟鹅观草属(Pseudoroegneria)物种、1个大麦属(Hordeum)物种和2个冰草属(Agropyron)物种,共4属11份材料的胚乳细胞特征进行解剖观察并测量相关指标。结果表明:(1)不同属、种的植物种子胚乳细胞之间存在丰富的多样性,属间差异大于属内种间差异;(2)同样具有P染色体组的Agropyron cristatum和A.mongolicum与同样具有St染色体组的Pseudoroegneria libanotica和P.spicata各自在细胞形状和大小上的差异很小;(3)不同物种的胚乳细胞在大小、形状和数量上均表现出差异,但不能很好地反映属以及基因组间的差异,研究结果为揭示披碱草属植物的系统关系提供了胚乳细胞方面的证据,同时也为利用该属植物改良麦类作物品质积累资料。     

Recent natural hybridization between two allopolyploid wheatgrasses (Elytrigia, Poaceae): ecological and evolutionary implications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Natural hybridization was investigated between two predominantly allohexaploid wheatgrasses, weedy Elytrigia repens and steppic E. intermedia, with respect to habitats characterized by different degrees of anthropogenic disturbance. METHODS: Using flow cytometry (relative DNA content), 269 plants from three localities were analysed. Hybrids were further analysed using nuclear ribosomal (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region) and chloroplast (trnT-F region) DNA markers in addition to absolute DNA content and chromosome numbers. KEY RESULTS: Weedy E. repens was rare in a steppic locality whereas E. intermedia was almost absent at two sites of agricultural land-use. Nevertheless, hybrids were common there whereas none were found at the steppic locality, underlining the importance of different ecological conditions for hybrid formation or establishment. At one highly disturbed site, > 16 % of randomly collected plants were hybrids. Hexaploid hybrids showed intermediate genome size compared with the parents and additive patterns of parental ITS copies. Some evidence of backcrosses was found. The direction of hybridization was highly asymmetric as cpDNA identified E. intermedia as the maternal parent in 61 out of 63 cases. Out of nine nonaploid cytotypes (2n = 9x = 63) which likely originated by fusion of unreduced and reduced gametes of hexaploids, eight were hybrids whereas one was a nonaploid cytotype of E. repens. The progeny of one nonaploid hybrid demonstrated gene flow between hexaploid and nonaploid cytotypes. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that E. repens and E. intermedia frequently cross at places where they co-occur. Hybrid frequency is likely influenced by habitat type; sites disturbed by human influence sustain hybrid formation and/or establishment. Hexaploid and nonaploid hybrid fertility is not negligible, backcrossing is possible, and the progeny is variable. The frequent production of new at least partially fertile cyto- and genotypes provides ample raw material for evolution and adaptation.