Structural variation in the heterochromatin of rye chromosomes in triticales

Although Giemsa C-banding techniques have been used extensively for assaying cereal heterochromatin, a more specific technique for analyzing cereal heterochromatin has been developed recently with the isolation of DNA sequences present in heterochromatin and their employment in in situ hybridization to cereal chromosomes. A number of triticales were examined for the occurrence of modified rye chromosomes using the in situ hybridization technique. With a heterogeneous sequence probe the amount of rye heterochromatin appears to be relatively constant in wheat backgrounds but when a specific sequence probe was employed variation was observed. Whether this variation reflects polymorphism in rye or whether it is a result of adaption of the rye genome to coexistence with the wheat genome in triticales is discussed. - The triticale Rosner was examined in detail and it was established that the rye chromosome 2R had been replaced by the wheat chromosome 2D.