Chromosome painting to locate genes for drought resistance transferred from Festuca arundinacea into Lolium multiflorum

Abstract

Genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) on mitotic chromosome preparations of two diploid Lolium multiflorum-like drought-resistant plants derived from a L. multiflorum x Festuca arundinacea hybrid is described. With F. arundinacea DNA as probe, each introgression line was found to carry a single Festuca recombinant chromosome segment. In both plants, the introgressed Festuca chromosome segment was on the long arm of chromosome 2 of the L. multiflorum-like hybrid derivative. A DNA probe of F. pratensis, which is one of the progenitor species of F. arundinacea, hybridized with the introgressed E arundinacea chromosome segment. It is likely that genes that confer drought resistance have been transferred from the F. pratensis subgenome of F. arundinacea to L. multiflorum. It follows that the F. pratensis chromosome in F. arundinacea which is homoeologous to chromosome 2 in L. multiflorum carries genes for drought resistance.