JXB Advance Access originally published online on July 2, 2004
Journal of Experimental Botany 2004 55(403):1715-1720; doi:10.1093/jxb/erh209
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RESEARCH PAPER |
A single chromosome addition from Thinopyrum elongatum confers a polycarpic, perennial habit to annual wheat
1Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164–6420, USA
2Department of Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105–5051, USA
3Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164–6420, USA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +1 509 335 4171. E-mail: joness{at}wsu.edu
Annual wheat displays monocarpic senescence, but amphiploids between wheat and its wild perennial relatives in the genus Thinopyrum generally display a polycarpic, perennial growth habit. In order to determine the chromosomal basis of this phenomenon, life-history characteristics were examined using Chinese Spring wheat and a complete Thinopyrum elongatum (2n=2x=14) chromosome addition series in a Chinese Spring background. Both monosomic and disomic additions and substitutions of Th. elongatum chromosome 4E conferred a polycarpic life history to annual Chinese Spring wheat. Disomic addition lines were found to be perennial under field conditions. This is the first report of a single alien chromosome conferring a polycarpic growth habit to a monocarpic species. Chromosome 4E altered the timing of tiller initiation, such that two growth phases could be clearly identified, the first phase being indistinguishable from the growth of euploid Chinese Spring, followed by a second phase of tiller initiation after the sexual cycle of the first phase tillers was complete (post-sexual cycle regrowth).
Key words: Life history, perennial, polycarpic, Thinopyrum, tillering, wheat