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Variation in nuclear DNA in the genus Secale

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Abstract

Estimates of the 4C DNA amount per nucleus in 16 taxa of the genus Secale made by Feulgen microdensitometry ranged from 28.85 picograms (pg) in S. silvestre PBI R52 to 34.58 pg in S. vavilovii UM 2D49, compared with 33.14 pg in S. cereale cv. “Petkus Spring” which was used as a standard. Giemsa C-banding patterns showed considerable interspecific and intraspecific variation and several instances of polymorphism for large telomeric C-bands. The proportion of telomeric heterochromatin in the genome ranged from about 6% in S. silvestre and S. africanum to about 12% in cultivated rye. A detailed comparison of nine taxa showed no overall relationship between 4C DNA amount and the proportion of telomeric heterochromatin in the genome. However, evidence is presented which strongly supports the notion that the major evolutionary change in chromosome structure in Secale has involved the addition of heterochromatin at, or close to, the telomeres. It is suggested that saltatory amplification events at telomeres were initially responsible for each large increase in DNA amount. Subsequently unequal crossing over between homologues may have played an important secondary role by extending the range of variation in the amount of heterochromatin at a given telomere, while crossing over between non-homologues may have provided a useful mechanism allowing an increase in the DNA amount at one telomere to be distributed between chromosomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Breeding Institute, Maris Lane, CB2 2LQ, Trumpington, Cambridge, England

    M. D. Bennett, J. P. Gustafson & J. B. Smith

  2. Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    J. P. Gustafson

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  1. M. D. Bennett
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  2. J. P. Gustafson
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  3. J. B. Smith
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Bennett, M.D., Gustafson, J.P. & Smith, J.B. Variation in nuclear DNA in the genus Secale . Chromosoma 61, 149–176 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327398

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