Origin and differentiation of Aegilops triuncialis L. as determined by esterase isozyme analysis

Banding patterns of esterase isozymes in Aegilops triuncialis (2n = 28, genome formula C(u)C(u)CC) and its putative parental species, Ae. umbellulata (2n = 14, C(u)C(u)) and Ae. caudata (2n = 14, CC), were studied by the gel isoelectric focusing method using pH 6-8 carrier ampholite. Zymogram phenotypes of both parents were quite uniform. Seven zymogram phenotypes (designated as phenotypes 1 to 7) were found among the 260 strains of Ae. triuncialis examined. Of these phenotypes, phenotype 1 was identical to the zymogram phenotype produced by the ancestral species, Ae. umbellulata, and bands considered to have been derived from Ae. caudata were absent in this phenotype. Phenotype 3 had all bands of both parents. The other phenotypes differed greatly from phenotype 3. Therefore, phenotype 3 was considered to be most primitive of the 7 types, and the Ae. triuncialis strains which showed phenotype 3 to be the most primitive of the strains examined. If Ae. triuncialis originated as a hybrid between Ae. umbellulata and Ae. caudata, the zymogram phenotype must have been phenotype 3, in which the isozymes of both parental species are present. Whether the phenotypes other than type 3 were due to introgressive hybridization could not be verified, but they were considered in this article to be a consequence of a rearrangement of chromosomes.