Production and cytogenetics of intergeneric hybrids between the three cultivated Brassica diploids and Orychophragmusviolaceus

It has been proposed that both complete and partial separation of the parental genomes during mitosis and meiosis occurs in the intergeneric hybrids between Orychophragmus violaceus (2n=24) and the three cultivated Brassica tetraploids (B. napus, B. carinata and B. juncea). The hypothesis has been that this and the variations in chromosome numbers of these hybrids and their progenies result from the different roles of the A, B and C genomes originating from Brassica. To test this hypothesis, we produced hybrids between O. violaceus and the cultivated Brassica diploids. The hybrids with B. oleracea (2n=18, CC) had an intermediate morphology, but their petals were purple like those of O. violaceus. They were sterile and had the expected chromosome number (2n=21) in their mitotic and meiotic cells. The hybrid with B. campestris (2n=20, AA) was morphologically intermediate, except for its partial fertility and its yellow petals, which were similar to those of B. campestris. It was mixoploid (2n=23–42), and cells with 2n=34 were most frequent. Partial separation of parental genomes during mitosis, leading to the addition of O. violaceus chromosomes to the B. campestris complement, was proposed to explain the findings in the mitotic and meiotic cells of the hybrid and its progeny. In crosses with B. nigra (2n=16, BB), the majority of the F₁ plants were of the maternal type (2n=16), a small fraction had B. nigra morphology but were mixoploids (2n=16–18), predominantly with 2n=16 cells and three plants, each with a specific morphology, were mixoploids consisting of cells with varying ranges of chromosome numbers (2n=17–26, 11–17 and 14–17). The origin of these different types of plants was inferred to be a result of the complete and partial separation of parental genomes and the loss of O. violaceus chromosomes. Our findings in the three crosses suggest that the A genome was more influential than the C genome with respect to complete genome separation during mitosis and meiosis of the hybrids with B. napus. Possible complete and partial genome separation during mitotic divisions of the hybrids with B. carinata was mainly attributed to the role of the B genome. The combined roles of the A and B genomes would thus contribute to the most variable chromosome numbers of mitotic and meiotic cells in the hybrids with B. juncea and their progenies. The possible cytological mechanisms pertaining to these hybrids and the potential of genome separation in the production of Brassica aneuploids and homozygous plants are discussed. Received: 8 February 1998 / Accepted: 12 March 1999