Hordeum and Secale mitotic genomes lie apart in a hybrid

In both unpretreated root tip metaphases and pretreated mitoses of Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Sultan x Secale africanum Stapf F1 hybrids, Hordeum chromosomes tended to be nearer the centre of the mitosis than Secale chromosomes. This was clear in 4 serially sectioned cells examined in the electron microscope. In Feulgen squashes of 38 of 40 cells studied in the light microscope, the mean distances in each cell from the mean centromere position for the cell was less for Hordeum centromeres than for Scale centromeres. Such spatial separation of parent genomes might prevent pairing of homoeologues in hybrids.