Cytogenetic analysis of interspecific hybrids and amphiploids between two diploid crested wheatgrasses, Agropyron mongolicum and A. cristatum

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Abstract
Agropyron mongolicum Keng, the narrow linear-spiked diploid species (2n = 14), was hybridized with the broad pectinate-spiked diploid (2n = 14), A. cristatum (L.) Gaertner. The F1 hybrids were all diploids and morphologically intermediate to their parents. Chromosome pairing at metaphase I in the hybrids averaged 1.40 I, 5.59 II, 0.35 III, and 0.09 IV per cell, demonstrating that the two parental genomes are very similar. The F1 hybrids were partially fertile. The F2 progeny showed a broad array of variations in spike morphology and chromosome pairing behavior. Cytological data of the F1 hybrids and the F2 progeny revealed that these two diploid species contain the same basic P genome but differ by structural rearrangements of some chromosomes. The patterns of multivalent associations were the result of a heterozygous reciprocal translocation between a long and a very short chromosome segment. The colchicine-induced C0 amphiploids were fully fertile with regular chromosome pairing behavior. These two diploid species are the likely source of morphological variation in the tetraploid crested wheatgrasses.Key words: Agropyron, cytogenetics, chromosome pairing, interspecific hybrids.

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