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Cytogenetics of Cereal Species
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Cytogenetics of Cereal Species

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2021) | Viewed by 15760

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ekaterina D. Badaeva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Genetic Basis of Plant Identification, N.I.Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences. 119334 Moscow, Russia
Interests: wheat; Aegilops; C-banding; FISH; chromosome nomenclature; karyotype evolution; chromosomal rearrangements

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Cereals, or Gramineae, are a large group of plants that includes about 11,000 species belonging to approximately 80 genera. Cereals grow in all continents of the Globe from the North Arctic to the Antarctic regions on the south, and they are major compounds of steppe, meadows, prairie, and savannah phytocenoses. There is no denying the role cereals have played in our daily lives since the beginning of human civilization, having been the crops grown by Neolithic founders. What is more, three cereal species—rice, wheat, and maize—contribute more than half of all calories consumed by human beings today. Cereals are also used as forage crops, ornamental plants, or for medical purposes. 

More than a 70-fold variation in genome size (1C = 309.19–22,148.00 Mbp) has been recorded among cereal species. An increase of genome size is caused by polyploidy (up to 16x), accumulation of repetitive DNA sequences, especially retroelements, or both factors together. Owing to this, cereals exhibit an extremely broad karyotype diversity, including variation in chromosome number (2n, 4–112), size (<1.0–10 µm) and morphology. Most species (including Triticeae) have a basic chromosome number (x = 7); however, taxa with x = 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 12 are also known. 

Although cereals have been the subject of cytogenetics for more than a century, only a small part of species have been karyotypically characterized, while for most species, only chromosome numbers are known. Many cereals are polyploids, but the mechanisms controlling meiosis of these species are not fully understood. In recent years, achievements of genome sequencing projects of crop and model cereal species and the development of microscopic and FISH technologies have significantly enhanced the possibilities of cereal cytogenetics. However, despite the progress achieved, many questions and problems still remain unsolved. 

Therefore, in this Special Issue, articles (original research papers, reviews, hypotheses, opinions, methods) that focus on cereal cytogenetics, including karyotyping of unexplored taxa using standard and novel technologies, development, and application of new probes for chromosome identification, gene mapping, analysis of fine chromosome structure, evaluation of phylogenetic relationships of species based on mitotic and meiotic chromosome studies, analysis of karyotype evolution, and identification and analyses of genes controlling meiotic division in diploid and polyploid cereals are welcome.

Dr. Ekaterina D. Badaeva
Guest Editor

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cereals
  • cytogenetics
  • fluorescence in situ hybridization
  • meiosis
  • mitosis
  • karyotype

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 115073 KiB  
Article
Karyotype Reorganization in Wheat–Rye Hybrids Obtained via Unreduced Gametes: Is There a Limit to the Chromosome Number in Triticale?
by Olga G. Silkova, Yulia N. Ivanova, Dina B. Loginova, Lilia A. Solovey, Elena A. Sycheva and Nadezhda I. Dubovets
Plants 2021, 10(10), 2052; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10102052 - 29 Sep 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3208
Abstract
To date, few data have been accumulated on the contribution of meiotic restitution to the formation of Triticum aestivum hybrid karyotypes. In this study, based on FISH and C-banding, karyotype reorganization was observed in three groups of F5 wheat–rye hybrids 1R(1A) × [...] Read more.
To date, few data have been accumulated on the contribution of meiotic restitution to the formation of Triticum aestivum hybrid karyotypes. In this study, based on FISH and C-banding, karyotype reorganization was observed in three groups of F5 wheat–rye hybrids 1R(1A) × R. Aberrations, including aneuploidy, telocentrics, and Robertsonian translocations, were detected in all groups. Some of the Group 1 plants and all of the Group 2 plants only had a 4R4R pair (in addition to 1R1R), which was either added or substituted for its homeolog in ABD subgenomes. In about 82% of meiocytes, 4R4R formed bivalents, which indicates its competitiveness. The rest of the Group 1 plants had 2R and 7R chromosomes in addition to 1R1R. Group 3 retained all their rye chromosomes, with a small aneuploidy on the wheat chromosomes. A feature of the meiosis in the Group 3 plants was asynchronous cell division and omission of the second division. Diploid gametes did not form because of the significant disturbances during gametogenesis. As a result, the frequency of occurrence of the formed dyads was negatively correlated (r = −0.73) with the seed sets. Thus, meiotic restitution in the 8n triticale does not contribute to fertility or increased ploidy in subsequent generations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cytogenetics of Cereal Species)
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19 pages, 6036 KiB  
Article
Expression of Two Rye CENH3 Variants and Their Loading into Centromeres
by Elena V. Evtushenko, Evgeny A. Elisafenko, Sima S. Gatzkaya, Veit Schubert, Andreas Houben and Alexander V. Vershinin
Plants 2021, 10(10), 2043; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10102043 - 28 Sep 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3143
Abstract
Gene duplication and the preservation of both copies during evolution is an intriguing evolutionary phenomenon. Their preservation is related to the function they perform. The central component of centromere specification and function is the centromere-specific histone H3 (CENH3). Some cereal species (maize, rice) [...] Read more.
Gene duplication and the preservation of both copies during evolution is an intriguing evolutionary phenomenon. Their preservation is related to the function they perform. The central component of centromere specification and function is the centromere-specific histone H3 (CENH3). Some cereal species (maize, rice) have one copy of the gene encoding this protein, while some (wheat, barley, rye) have two. Therefore, they represent a good model for a comparative study of the functional activity of the duplicated CENH3 genes and their protein products. We determined the organization of the CENH3 locus in rye (Secale cereale L.) and identified the functional motifs in the vicinity of the CENH3 genes. We compared the expression of these genes at different stages of plant development and the loading of their products, the CENH3 proteins, into nucleosomes during mitosis and meiosis. Using extended chromatin fibers, we revealed patterns of loading CENH3 proteinsinto polynucleosomal domains in centromeric chromatin. Our results indicate no sign of neofunctionalization, subfunctionalization or specialization in the gene copies. The influence of negative selection on the coding part of the genes led them to preserve their conserved function. The advantage of having two functional genes appears as the gene-dosage effect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cytogenetics of Cereal Species)
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12 pages, 2966 KiB  
Article
Intragenomic Conflict between Knob Heterochromatin and B Chromosomes Is the Key to Understand Genome Size Variation along Altitudinal Clines in Maize
by Graciela Esther González and Lidia Poggio
Plants 2021, 10(9), 1859; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10091859 - 8 Sep 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2143
Abstract
In maize, we studied the causes of genome size variation and their correlates with cultivation altitude that suggests the existence of adaptive clines. To discuss the biological role of the genome size variation, we focused on Bolivian maize landraces growing along a broad [...] Read more.
In maize, we studied the causes of genome size variation and their correlates with cultivation altitude that suggests the existence of adaptive clines. To discuss the biological role of the genome size variation, we focused on Bolivian maize landraces growing along a broad altitudinal range. These were analyzed together with previously studied populations from altitudinal clines of Northwestern Argentina (NWA). Bolivian populations exhibited numerical polymorphism for B chromosomes (Bs) (from 1 to 5), with frequencies varying from 16.6 to 81.8 and being positively correlated with cultivation altitude. The 2C values of individuals 0B (A-DNA) ranged between 4.73 and 7.71 pg, with 58.33% of variation. The heterochromatic knobs, detected by DAPI staining, were more numerous and larger in individuals 0B than in those with higher doses of Bs. Bolivian and NWA landraces exhibited the same pattern of A-DNA downsizing and fewer and smaller knobs with increasing cultivation altitude, suggesting a mechanistic link among heterochromatin, genome size and phenology. The negative association between the two types of supernumerary DNA (knob heterochromatin and Bs), mainly responsible for the genome size variation, may be considered as an example of intragenomic conflict. It could be postulated that the optimal nucleotype is the result of such conflict, where genome adjustment may lead to an appropriate length of the vegetative cycle for maize landraces growing across altitudinal clines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cytogenetics of Cereal Species)
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16 pages, 4818 KiB  
Article
Cytogenomics of Deschampsia P. Beauv. (Poaceae) Species Based on Sequence Analyses and FISH Mapping of CON/COM Satellite DNA Families
by Alexandra V. Amosova, Lilit Ghukasyan, Olga Yu. Yurkevich, Nadezhda L. Bolsheva, Tatiana E. Samatadze, Svyatoslav A. Zoshchuk and Olga V. Muravenko
Plants 2021, 10(6), 1105; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10061105 - 30 May 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2882
Abstract
The genus Deschampsia P. Beauv. (Poaceae) involves a group of widespread polymorphic species, and many of them are highly tolerant to stressful environmental conditions. Genome diversity and chromosomal phylogeny within the genus are still insufficiently studied. Satellite DNAs, including CON/COM families, are the [...] Read more.
The genus Deschampsia P. Beauv. (Poaceae) involves a group of widespread polymorphic species, and many of them are highly tolerant to stressful environmental conditions. Genome diversity and chromosomal phylogeny within the genus are still insufficiently studied. Satellite DNAs, including CON/COM families, are the main components of the plant repeatome, which contribute to chromosome organization. For the first time, using PCR-based (Polymerase Chain Reaction) techniques and sequential BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) and MSA (Multiple Sequence Alignment) analyses, we identified and classified CON/COM repeats in genomes of eleven Deschampsia accessions and three accessions from related genera. High homology of CON/COM sequences were revealed in the studied species though differences in single-nucleotide alteration profiles detected in homologous CON/COM regions indicated that they tended to diverge independently. The performed chromosome mapping of 45S rDNA, 5S rDNA, and CON/COM repeats in six Deschampsia species demonstrated interspecific variability in localization of these cytogenetic markers and facilitated the identification of different chromosomal rearrangements. Based on the obtained data, the studied Deschampsia species were distinguished into karyological groups, and MSA-based schematic trees were built, which could clarify the relationships within the genus. Our findings can be useful for further genetic and phylogenetic studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cytogenetics of Cereal Species)
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27 pages, 5523 KiB  
Article
Chromosome and Molecular Analyses Reveal Significant Karyotype Diversity and Provide New Evidence on the Origin of Aegilops columnaris
by Ekaterina D. Badaeva, Nadezhda N. Chikida, Andrey N. Fisenko, Sergei A. Surzhikov, Maria K. Belousova, Hakan Özkan, Alexandra Y. Dragovich and Elena Z. Kochieva
Plants 2021, 10(5), 956; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10050956 - 11 May 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3230
Abstract
Aegilops columnaris Zhuk. is tetraploid grass species (2n = 4x = 28, UcUcXcXc) closely related to Ae. neglecta and growing in Western Asia and a western part of the Fertile Crescent. Genetic diversity of Ae. [...] Read more.
Aegilops columnaris Zhuk. is tetraploid grass species (2n = 4x = 28, UcUcXcXc) closely related to Ae. neglecta and growing in Western Asia and a western part of the Fertile Crescent. Genetic diversity of Ae. columnaris was assessed using C-banding, FISH, nuclear and chloroplast (cp) DNA analyses, and gliadin electrophoresis. Cytogenetically Ae. columnaris was subdivided into two groups, C-I and C-II, showing different karyotype structure, C-banding, and FISH patterns. C-I group was more similar to Ae. neglecta. All types of markers revealed significant heterogeneity in C-II group, although group C-I was also polymorphic. Two chromosomal groups were consistent with plastogroups identified in a current study based on sequencing of three chloroplast intergenic spacer regions. The similarity of group C-I of Ae. columnaris with Ae. neglecta and their distinctness from C-II indicate that divergence of the C-I group was associated with minor genome modifications. Group C-II could emerge from C-I relatively recently, probably due to introgression from another Aegilops species followed by a reorganization of the parental genomes. Most C-II accessions were collected from a very narrow geographic region, and they might originate from a common ancestor. We suggest that the C-II group is at the initial stage of species divergence and undergoing an extensive speciation process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cytogenetics of Cereal Species)
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