Genomic Instability in Wheat Induced by Chromosome 6b(s) of Triticum Speltoides

A massive restructuring of chromosomes was observed during the production of a substitution of chromosome 6B(s) from Triticum speltoides (Tausch) Gren. ex Richter for chromosome 6B of Chinese Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Deletions, translocations, ring chromosomes, dicentric chromosomes and a paracentric inversion were observed. Chromosome rearrangements occurred in both euchromatic and heterochromatic regions. Chromosome rearrangements were not observed either in the amphiploid between Chinese Spring and T. speltoides or in Chinese Spring. No chromosome rearrangements were observed in the backcross derivatives; however, after self-pollination of a monosomic substitution (2n = 41) of chromosome 6B(s) for wheat chromosome 6B, 49 of the 138 plants carried chromosome aberrations. Chromosome rearrangements were observed in both wheat and T. speltoides chromosomes. The frequency of chromosome rearrangements was high among the B-genome chromosomes, moderate among the A-genome chromosomes, and low among the D-genome chromosomes. In the B genome, the rearrangements were nonrandom, occurring most frequently in chromosomes 1B and 5B. Chromosome rearrangements were also frequent for the 6B(s) chromosome of T. speltoides. An intriguing aspect of these observations is that they indicate that wheat genomes can be subject to uneven rates of structural chromosome differentiation in spite of being in the same nucleus.