nucleolus organizer region activation by 5-azacytidine in wheat x rye hybrids. Genome, 33: 707-712. Nucleolar activity was studied in several lines of Triticum aestivum cv. Chinese Spring, Triticum turgidum cv. Durum, and F1 hybrids from euploid and aneuploid lines of T. aestivum and Secale cereale cv. Centeio d o Alto, in cells from root tips of seeds germinated in water or in 5-azacytidine. 5-Azacytidine, an analog of cytidine modified in the 5 position of the pyrimidine ring, inhibits DNA methylation. By using silver staining to determine the number of nucleolus organizer regions and the average number of nucleoli per root-tip cell from seeds germinated in both situations, it became apparent that the presence of 5-azacytidine during germination allowed for the expression of the nucleolus organizer region locus belonging to the rye genome, in contrast to the usual observed cytological absence of the rye nucleolus organizer region in wheat-rye hybrids. It is suggested that wheat nucleolar dominance in wheat-rye hybrids is mainly a consequence of methylation of rRNA genes or its regulators located on the 1R chromosome of rye.

The expression of rRNA genes located in the nucleolar organizing region (NOR) present on the short arm of chromosome 1R from rye (Secale cereale L.) was examined in several hexaploid (Triticum aestivum L.) and tetraploid wheats (Triticum turgidum L.) containing the entire chromosome 1R from rye (disomic substitution 1B(1R)), its full haploid genome (hexaploid wheat–rye F1 hybrid), or only its short arm translocated to the long arms of wheat chromosomes from the homoeologous group 1 (disomic translocations 1AL/1RS, 1BL/1RS, or 1DL/1RS) or added to the complete hexaploid wheat genotype (monotelosomic addition 1RS). By silver staining and determination of the number of Ag-NORs and the average number of nucleoli per root-tip cell it became apparent that the expression of 1R NORs, in the presence of wheat genomes, depends on the absence of the long arm of rye chromosome 1R. In wheat-rye F1 hybrids and in hexaploid wheat with a disomic substitution 1B(1R), 1R NOR was morphologically absent, even when only one wheat major NOR was present, in contrast with its frequent expression in wheat–rye translocation or addition lines where only its short arm was added. It is suggested that wheat nucleolar dominance over rye as expressed by heterochromatic and silent NOR in 1RS is under a complex genetic control which involves interaction between 1RL and unidentified wheat genes.Key words: 1R nucleolus organizer region, gene activity, amphiplasty.

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Regulation of nondisjunction of the rye B chromosome was investigated using the cytidine analog 5-azacytidine, which affects DNA methylation. The B chromosome of rye normally undergoes nondisjunction at first pollen grain mitosis and is stable at all other mitotic nuclear divisions. Observations on mitosis in the control root cells showed normal chromosome behaviour, whereas the treated roots were characterized by a high frequency of anaphases with lagging chromosomes showing evidence of failure of chromatid separation. The occurrence of nondisjunction was confirmed by the presence of variable numbers of B chromosomes between cells within roots, whereas the A-chromosome number remained constant. These results suggest that the epigenetic process by which somatic cells maintain the inactivity of the gene(s) responsible for B chromosome nondisjunction, between fertilization and meiosis, is mediated through DNA methylation.Key words: B chromosome, DNA methylation, meiotic reprogramming, 5-azacytidine, rye.

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