Studies on changes in specific rye genome regions due to seed aging and regeneration

The aim of this study was to identify the genetic changes in rye seeds induced by natural aging during long-term storage and successive regeneration cycles under gene bank conditions. Genomic DNA from four rye samples (cv. Dańkowskie Złote), varying in their initial viability and having gone through one or three reproduction cycles, were analysed using specific PCR targeting of a secalin locus, and various repetitive fragments defined by the R173 sequence. A statistical analysis of the band frequencies for both secalin and R173.3 primer pairs revealed no changes in their frequencies. Similar data on R173.1 demonstrated significant changes between samples of different initial viability showing a lack of a band of the expected length (987 bp) in progeny originating from low viability seeds lots. These changes were inherited even after three regeneration cycles. Our results may indicate that long-term storage that leads to loss of viability also generates heritable changes in the preserved germplasm. However, it remains to be discovered where these changes occur and whether they are connected with coding or with non-coding DNA regions.