The synthetic allotetraploid Aegilops sharonensis × Ae. umbellulata (genomic formula S^shU) was used to study inheritance and expression of 45S rDNA during early stages of allopolyploid formation. Using silver staining, we revealed suppression of the NORs (nucleolar organizing regions) from the S^sh genome in response to polyploidization. Most allopolyploid plants of the S₂–S₄ generations retained the chromosomal location of 45S rDNA typical for the parental species, except for two S₃ plants in which a deletion of the rDNA locus on one of the homologous 6S^sh chromosomes was revealed. In addition, we found a decrease in NOR signal intensity on both 6S^sh chromosomes in a portion of the S₃ and S₄ allopolyploid plants. As Southern hybridization showed, the allopolyploid plants demonstrated additive inheritance of parental rDNA units together with contraction of copy number of some rDNA families inherited from Ae. sharonensis. Also, we identified a new variant of amplified rDNA unit with MspAI1 restriction sites characteristic of Ae. umbellulata. These genetic alterations in the allopolyploid were associated with comparative hypomethylation of the promoter region within the Ae. umbellulata–derived rDNA units. The fast uniparental elimination of rDNA observed in the synthetic allopolyploid agrees well with patterns observed previously in natural wheat allotetraploids.

We characterized a representative set of 42 spring wheat cultivars from Russia and adjacent regions for 3 Vrn loci. The 42 genotypes were screened, along with 3 genotypes of known Vrn genes, using previously published genome-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers designed for detecting the presence or absence of dominant or recessive alleles of the major Vrn loci: Vrn-A1, Vrn-B1 and Vrn-D1. The dominant promoter duplication allele Vrn-A1a was present in 28 of 42 cultivars, whereas the promoter deletion allele Vrn-A1b was present in only 1 of the Russian cultivars (Triticum aestivum L. ‘Pyrothrix 28’). The intron deletion allele Vrn-A1c was not present in any tested cultivar. The dominant Vrn-D1 allele was found in 1 of the cultivars. Thirteen of the spring wheat cultivars tested here carry the recessive vrn-A1 allele. However, for 6 cultivars, there were inconsistencies between PCR data and genetic segregation analysis, showing the presence of the dominant Vrn-A1 gene. No inconsistencies were found in the case of Vrn-B1 locus. A new combination of specific primers allowed amplification of the common Vrn-B1a allele along with the novel Vrn-B1c allele, which was present in 17 of the studied cultivars (40%). Twenty-five cultivars (59%) had dominant alleles of Vrn-A1a and Vrn-B1 in combination. We showed the predominance of the Vrn-B1c allele among cultivars with monogenic control of vernalization in West Siberia and Kazakhstan. In the absence of epistatic effects of Vrn-A1, this allele causes an earlier heading time compared to Vrn-B1a, thereby avoiding early fall frosts. Suggestions are made concerning the origin and distribution of the Vrn-B1c allele among Russian spring wheats

Telomeric and subtelomeric regions are essential for genome stability and regular chromosome replication. In this work, we have characterized the wheat BAC (bacterial artificial chromosome) clones containing Spelt1 and Spelt52 sequences, which belong to the subtelomeric repeats of the B/G genomes of wheats and Aegilops species from the section Sitopsis.

Transposable elements (TEs) are a rapidly evolving fraction of the eukaryotic genomes and the main contributors to genome plasticity and divergence. Recently, occupation of the A- and D-genomes of allopolyploid wheat by specific TE families was demonstrated. Here, we investigated the impact of the well-represented family of gypsy LTR-retrotransposons, Fatima, on B-genome divergence of allopolyploid wheat using the fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) method and phylogenetic analysis.