The Moore Lab |
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Wheat gametocidal genesThe effects of an important phenomenon (the gametocidal factor, Gc) in breeding were first observed when introducing chromosomes carrying agronomically useful traits from related wild grasses (Aegilops species) into wheat. Particular chromosomes from the wild species were found to be preferentially transmitted in wheat because they caused chromosome fragmentation and hence sterility in the developing wheat gametes not carrying them. We are interested in the gametocidal genes on chromosomes that have been introduced into wheat from Aegilops sharonensis as substitutions for group 4 chromosomes. These chromosomes have a particularly pronounced effect in inducing chromosome fragmentation in the developing gametes in which they are not present. Chromosome aberrations in wheat endosperms
Gametocidal genes may be useful in breeding because genes closely linked to them are selectively retained in successive generations. We are currently crossing a wheat variety that carries a small segment of the Aegilops sharonensis gametocidal chromosome (4Sl) on the long arm of chromosome 4D with a wheat variety carrying no gametocidal genes. We aim to produce hybrid wheat plants with a single gametocidal chromosome. The F1 hybrid seed will be gamma irradiated to produce a series of deletions over the region containing the gametocidal locus, in order to narrow down the location of the gametocidal gene(s). We have developed a screening strategy to detect progeny in which the gametocidal genes have been deleted.
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