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Wheat Information Service
Number 71: 6-9 (1990)


Mutation of five marker genes in wheat by the gametocidal gene of Aegilops speltoides, Gc1a

H. Tsujimoto and K. Noda

Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama City University, Mutsukawa 3-122-20, Minami-ku, Yokohama 232, Japan.


Summary

A common wheat line carrying the gametocidal gene, Gc1a, originating from Aegilops speltoides was crossed to a line carrying five dominant marker genes. In the F1 generation of the cross using the Gc1a carrier as a male parent, unexpected plants which lacked expression of one or two marker characters appeared. Only a few mutations were observed in the reciprocal cross. Moreover, most of the mutants observed in the F1 plants of the former cross were not chimeric. These findings indicate that in the former cross, the marker genes derived from the female gametes were mutated by the gametocidal gene of the male gamete in the first zygotic cell.


Introduction

Many papers have reported that gametocidal genes of wheat relatives can induce chromosomal mutation. Recently, Endo (1990) published a review on this phenomenon and in it he classified the chromosomal mutations into two groups, that is, mutations induced in gametes and those in zygotes. The zygotic mutation was first observed by Tsujimoto and Tsunewaki (1985) in the F1 generation of crosses between various euploid common wheat cultivars and a common wheat line carrying the gametocidal gene of Aegilops speltoides (Gc1a) in the homozygous condition. Because the line of Gc1a homozygote did not manifest abnormal gametes, it was clear that the mutation observed in the F1 must have been induced in the F1 zygotes.

To make the feature of the zygotic mutation caused by Gc1a clearer, we made crosses between a line carrying five dominant marker genes and the line carrying the Gc1a and observed the expression of the marker genes in the F1 plants.


Materials and Methods

The line carrying the gametocidal gene, Gc1a, originating from Aegilops speltoides in the background of Triticum aestivum cv. 'Chinese Spring' was crossed to a wheat line carrying five dominant marker genes in the background of cultivar 'S-615', and phenotypes of the F1 plants were observed. The marker genes of the marker line and their chromosome locations are: B1(5Aq) for awn suppression, Q (5Aq) for speltoid suppression, C (2Dq) for compact spikes, Hg (1 Ap) for hairy glumes, and Hp1 (4Aq) for hairy necks. On the other hand, the gametocidal gene carrier (abbrev. CS-Gc1aGc1a) has recessive alleles of B1, C, Hg and Hp1 and a dominant allele of Q, i.e., the genotypes is b1b1 QQ cc hghg hp1hp1. Therefore, the F1 plants should have a genotype of B1b1 QQ Cc Hghg Hp1hp1. If a mutation occurred, the dominant Phenotype would disappear in the F1. Regarding Q, speltoid spikes will appear when dose of Q decreases from the normal two to one, therefore, the mutation is also recognized in the F1.

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