In the maize landraces from Northeastern Argentina inter and even intra-populational genome size variations were detected. Moreover, high variation in number, positions, percentage of heterochromatin as well in size and sequence compositions of knobs were detected. Since knobs would be an important cause of the observed differences in DNA content, the absence of a significant relationship between the percentage of heterochromatin and genome size suggests that other non-coding repetitive DNA sequences contribute to genome size variation. The positive correlations between the length of the vegetative cycle and percentage of heterochromatin found allowed us to attribute an adaptive effect to the heterochromatin, since the vegetative cycle time would be optimized via selection for an appropriate percentage of heterochromatin.

The Northwestern Argentina (NWA) highland region is one of the southernmost areas of native maize cultivation. We studied variations of different cytological parameters, such as DNA contents, presence/absence of B chromosomes (Bs), and number and sequence composition of heterochromatic knobs in ten accessions of four maize landraces growing along a broad altitudinal cline in NWA. The aim of this work was to assess variations in cytological parameters and their relationship with the crop altitude of cultivation, in an adaptive context. The A-DNA content of the A chromosome complements showed 40% of difference between the lowest (4.5 pg) and the highest (6.3 pg) 2C value. This variation could be attributed to differences in number and size of heterochromatic knobs. Fluorescent in situ hybridization studies revealed the sequence composition of each knob, with a higher proportion of knobs composed of 180-bp repeats rather than TR-1 repeats, in all accessions. We also found numerical polymorphisms and the highest frequency of Bs reported in maize to this date. These results lead us to propose that the frequencies and doses of Bs are influenced by the landrace genotypical make-up. The Bs might be maintained in higher frequencies in those accessions having lower heterochromatin content, so as to preserve an optimal nucleotype. Furthermore, selective forces acting along the altitudinal gradient might be modulating the cytological parameters studied, as suggested by the significant correlations found among them.

The present review summarizes our classical and molecular cytogenetic investigations in the genus Zea. The results obtained from the meiotic behavior analysis of Zea species and hybrids, confirm the amphiploid nature of all species in the genus, with a basic number of x = 5 chromosomes. All species with 2n = 20 are diploidized allotetraploids, whereas Z. perennis (2n = 40) is an allooctoploid with four genomes somewhat divergent from one another. These analyses also revealed the existence of postzygotic reproductive isolation among Zea species. Our studies using genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) provide evidence about the evolutionary relationships among maize and its allied species, and reveal remarkable genomic divergences. Particularly, knob sequences were not completely shared between taxa previously considered to be closely related. Our data strongly suggest that the teosinte Z. mays parviglumis is not the only progenitor of cultivated maize. Introgression of Tripsacum into cultivated maize cannot be discarded.

Since 1987 cytological evidence has arisen in our laboratory, pointing to x = 5 as the original basic chromosome number of maize and its related wild species. This paper deals with the analysis of the meiotic behavior of F1 hybrids Zea luxurians × Z. diploperennis (2n = 20) and Z. luxurians × Z. perennis (2n = 30). In the first hybrid the most frequent configuration was 8ll + 4l and in the latter was 5lll + 5ll + 5l. Applying GISH (genomic in situ hybridization) to mitotic chromosomes of Z. luxurians we found that DAPI (4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) positive bands located in all telomeric regions of this species did not hybridize with either Z. perennis or Z. diploperennis genomic probe. Therefore, Z. luxurians has a repetitive sequence that can be used in fluorescent staining to identify its chromosomes. When GISH was employed on metaphase I of the 2n = 30 hybrid, all the univalents showed distinctive telomeres of Z. luxurians, while the bivalents did not present any signal. These findings show that the formation of bivalent-univalent configurations is not a random event. The bivalents tend to be spatially separated and are very often observed forming an independent group of 5II. Finally, trivalents were composed by one chromosome labeled in its telomeric regions, and two smaller and unlabeled ones. The use of chromosome markers of Z. luxurians demonstrated to be a good step forward in interpreting the nature of meiotic configurations in 2n = 30 Zea spp. hybrids. They can help to clarify the relationship between genomes and provide a useful addition to the taxonomic classification in the genus Zea.Key Words: Zea hybrids, evolution, cytogenetics, repetitive sequences, heterochromatic knobs.

In this study we have analysed and compared the genomic composition, meiotic behaviour, and meiotic affinities of Zea perennis and Zea mays ssp. mays. To do so we studied the parental taxa and the interspecific hybrid Zea perennis x Zea mays ssp. mays, using classical cytogenetic methods, as well as GISH and FISH. GISH enabled us to recognize the genomic source of each chromosome involved in the meiotic configurations of this hybrid, and established the genomic affinities between their parental species. The results obtained here reinforce the hypothesis of the amphiploid origin of Zea perennis and, together with previous research, indicate that the chromosomes with divergent repetitive sequences in maize and Zea luxurians could be the remnants of a relict parental genome not shared with Zea perennis.

The karyotypes of Zea luxurians and a race of maize from northwestern Argentina are described and compared using 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) banding and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to localize the 180 bp knobs. The meiotic behavior of the F₁ artificial hybrids Z. luxurians × maize is also analyzed to determine the genomic relationships between both species. Neocentromere activity at knobs in the meiosis of the hybrids is particularly discussed. The meiotic behavior and the high pollen sterility of the hybrid revealed genetical and (or) chromosomal divergences, leading to postzygotic reproductive isolation among their parents. Here, we propose that maize shows lower genomic affinity to Z. luxurians than to other species of the genus with 2n = 20.

In several genus evolutionary chromosome change involves variation in DNA amount in diploids and genome downsizing in polyploids. The constancy of bimodal karyotypes, even with changes in ploidy level and DNA content per basic genome indicate that the distribution of DNA within the complement is not at random and suggest the presence of mechanisms selecting for constancy, or against changes, in the karyotype morphology.

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