Wheat-rye translocations

Abstract

In situ hybridization with a blotin-labeled DNA probe was used to detect wheatrye translocations. The probe containing a 120-bp repetitive DNA sequence from rye, hybridized to the entire length of all rye chromosomes, but only to a few sites in 14 wheat chromosomes. The overall distribution of this DNA probe in the rye chromosomes has not been detected previously with the use of radioactively labeled probes. As a result of the formation of a brown precipitate over sites of hybridization in this technique, the rye chromosomes were entirely brown in color, whereas the wheat chromosomes appeared blue. The distinguishable appearance of the wheat and rye chromosomes resulted in an efficient and sensitive method of detecting translocations.