Disomic chromosome 3R(3B) substitution causes a complex of meiotic abnormalities in bread wheat <i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.

Abstract

Triticum aestivum L. lines introgressed with alien chromosomes create a new genetic background that changes the gene expression of both wheat and donor chromosomes. The genes involved in meiosis regulation are localized on wheat chromosome 3B. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of wheat chromosome 3B substituted with homoeologous rye chromosome 3R on meiosis regulation in disomically substituted wheat line 3R(3B). Employing immunostaining with antibodies against microtubule protein, α-tubulin, and the centromerespecific histone (CENH3), as well as FISH, we analyzed microtubule cytoskeleton dynamics and wheat and rye 3R chromosomes behavior in 3R(3B) (Triticum aestivum L. variety Saratovskaya 29 × Secale cereale L. variety Onokhoiskaya) meiosis. The results revealed a set of abnormalities in the microtubule dynamics and chromosome behavior in both first and second divisions. A feature of metaphase I in 3R(3B) was a decrease in the chiasmata number compared with variety Saratovskaya 29, 34.9 ± 0.62 and 41.92 ± 0.38, respectively. Rye homologs 3R in 13.18 % of meiocytes did not form bivalents. Chromosomes were characterized by varying degrees of compaction; 53.33 ± 14.62 cells lacked a metaphase plate. Disturbances were found in microtubule nucleation at the bivalent kinetochores and in their convergence at the spindle division poles. An important feature of meiosis was the asynchronous chromosome behavior in the second division and dyads at the telophase II in 8–13 % of meiocytes, depending on the anther studied. Considering the 3R(3B) meiotic phenotype, chromosome 3B contains the genes involved in the regulation of meiotic division, and substituting 3B3B chromosomes with rye 3R3R does not compensate for their absence.