Detection of the Sec-1 locus of rye by a PCR-based method

The structural genes for the omega-secalins of rye (Secale cereale) are located in the Sec-1 locus on the short arm of rye chromosome 1R. We applied PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to detect the Sec-1 locus in a wheat genomic background. A primer set we designed based on a published sequence of a omega-secalin gene amplified not only the omega-secalin sequence, but also a putative omega-gliadin sequence. We determined partial sequences of both PCR-amplified fragments and designed different primers for the specific amplification of the omega-secalin sequence. One of the new primer sets amplified DNA fragments only in rye and wheat lines carrying chromosome 1R or telosome 1RS; no amplification occurred in either euploid wheats or 1RS deletion lines. This PCR-based method would provide efficient screening for the Sec-1 locus in progeny of wheat lines carrying chromosome 1R.