Asymmetric somatic hybridization between wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and Agropyron elongatum (Host) Nevishi

Abstract

Suspension-derived protoplasts of Agropyron elongatum irradiated by ultra-violet light (UV) were fused with the suspension-derived protoplasts of Triticum astivum using PEG. Fertile intergeneric somatic hybrid plants were produced and various hybrid lines have been selected and propagated in successive generations. Their hybrid nature was confirmed by analysis of profiles of isozymes, RAPDs, and 5S rDNA spacer sequences, and via GISH analysis. By the procedure described, the phenotype and chromosome number of wheat could be maintained besides transfer of a few chromosomes and chromosomal fragments from the donor A. elongatum. The results above indicated that highly asymmetric fertile hybrid plants and hybrid progenies of wheat were produced via somatic hybridization.

Intermediate fertile Triticum aestivum (+) Agropyron elongatum somatic hybrids are generated by low doses of UV irradiation

“…In this material, GISH showed the presence of only one or two A. elongatum chromosome(s) and /or only chromosome fragment(s) in the hybrid plants [8]. In contrast, the hybrids produced in the present study are intermediate between the two parents.…”

“…Somatic hybridization has the potential to be used as a plant breeding technique due to the possibility that it affords to combine sexually incompatible species, and to transfer both nuclear and cytoplasmic gene (s) simultaneously. However, only limited success has been achieved to date in Gramineae [1][2][3][4][5] and especially in wheat [6][7][8]. Agropyron elongatum is a perennial grass that expresses certain traits that would improve wheat for protein content, disease resistance and particularly salinity tolerance.…”

“…This disadvantage may be overcome by asymmetric somatic hybridization. Additionally, in contrast to sexual hybrids, somatic hybrids can include cytoplasmic genomes of the fusion parents and this has the potential to derive novel variability [2,8]. Two sorts of somatic hybrid progenies have been obtained from asymmetric and symmetric fusions of wheat (+) A. elongatum.…”

“…Two sorts of somatic hybrid progenies have been obtained from asymmetric and symmetric fusions of wheat (+) A. elongatum. One (from symmetric somatic hybridization [11]) resembled A. elongatum, and the other (from asymmetric somatic hybridization [8]) resembled wheat. In the present work, we performed asymmetric protoplast fusion with a lower dose of UV radiation of the donor protoplasts.…”

TaCHP: A Wheat Zinc Finger Protein Gene Down-Regulated by Abscisic Acid and Salinity Stress Plays a Positive Role in Stress Tolerance

“…One of these is tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum), which is among the most salinity tolerant of all monocotyledonous species (Yuan et al, 1999). Somatic hybridization has been successfully employed to transfer blocks of wheatgrass chromatin into bread wheat genome (Xia et al, 2003), and this approach has resulted in the release of an introgression cultivar Shanrong No.3 (SR3), which has inherited enhanced salinity tolerance from tall wheatgrass in a genetic background of the salinity-sensitive wheat cultivar Jinan 177 (JN177; Shan et al, 2008).…”