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a USDA, ARS, Southern Plains Range Research Station, Woodward, Oklahoma 73801
| ABSTRACT |
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Key Words: apomixis Poaceae sexual polyploidization Tripsacum Zea
| INTRODUCTION |
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Morphological uniformity across a wide distribution range suggests this unique species is of single hybrid origin and of ancient derivation (deWet et al., 1983). The origin of this unique natural intergeneric hybrid is of interest from an evolutionary prospective and also because of its potential relationship to the important grain crop maize (Zea mays L. ssp. mays). In its genus, the anomalous T. andersonii most nearly resembles T. latifolium Hitchc., particularly in spikelet morphology and stoloniferous growth habit (deWet et al., 1983). Molecular evidence strongly supports Zea luxurians Iltis as the Zea parent involved in the cross and a Tripsacum species as the female parent (Talbert et al., 1990). Larson and Doebley (1994) used combined rDNA and cpDNA data to indicate T. laxum Nash or a related species as the Tripsacum maternal parent of T. andersonii).
T. andersonii is completely male sterile, but can set an occasional seed; deWet, Harlan, and Randrianasolo (1978) pollinated some 21 000 female florets and recovered only eight viable progeny from T. andersonii crossed with various maize races. The resulting hybrids were 2n = 74, indicating fertilization of unreduced egg cells with n = 10 chromosome pollen. Fertility of the 2n = 74 chromosome hybrids has not been reported. This study was conducted to explore reproductive mechanism(s) of the highly sterile T. andersonii and its subsequent progeny.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Only one of the T. andersonii progeny, 95-51, produced inflorescences during the 1995 winter breeding season. This individual was cross-pollinated by diploid, 2n = 36, T. dactyloides using techniques as previously described (Dewald et al., 1987). During 1996, T. andersonii progeny 95-51, 95-52, and 95-53 were pollinated with several Tripsacum species, Zea mays spp. mays, and Zea luxurians for female fertility determinations.
Rootstock of eight accessions of T. andersonii from seven different countries were obtained from NGR for cytological and molecular evaluation. The principal plant materials evaluated in this study are listed in Table 1.
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Female fertility estimates of derivatives of 95-51 were determined from 1996 crosses by harvesting seed heads at maturity and extracting caryopses by hand. Percentage seed set was determined by dividing the number of spikelets containing a caryopses by the total number of spikelets harvested and then multiplying by 100. In this study, seed set determinations are from greenhouse-controlled cross-pollinations using an excess of freshly collected pollen.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-Random Amplified Polymerase (RAPD) DNA analysis was performed on DNA samples obtained from lyophilized leaf tissue harvested from greenhouse-grown plants. DNA extractions were made following the method of Saghai-Maroof et al. (1984). Individuals were analyzed by RAPD techniques using the protocol developed by Williams et al. (1990). Reactions were conducted on ~5 ng plant DNA. Ampli-Taq DNA polymerase and 10 X reaction buffer were purchased from Perkin Elmer (Branchburg, New Jersey).
Primers used in the RAPD study were decamer oligonucleotides available as kits C and D, purchased from Operon Technologies (Alameda, California). PCR amplifications and band separation and visualization were as described by Kindiger and Dewald (1996). Faint bands were disregarded and only bright reproducible bands were considered during evaluations. Additional reamplifications were carried out on individuals that exhibited questionable or variant profiles to verify their reproducibility.
| RESULTS |
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Five caryopses were found in 1253 spikelets (fruitcases) from open-pollinated T. andersonii clones (M 34445, M 34450, and M 34455) maintained at the USDA-ARS National Germplasm Repository, Miami, Florida. Four seedlings were obtained and one, 4713, a progeny of M 34450, had a chromosome number of 64 (Fig. 1), presumably as a result of apomictic reproduction. The other three T. andersonii progeny (95-51, 95-52, and 95-53) had 82 chromosomes (Fig. 2) and karyotypes indicated they possessed a tetraploid (2n = 4x = 72) Tripsacum genomic constitution plus a haploid (1n = 1x = 10) set of Zea chromosomes.
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Seed set determination
T. andersonii progeny 95-52 and 95-53 failed to set seed during the 1996 breeding season and are considered completely sterile. Progeny 95-51 is male sterile, but partially female fertile and produced seed (
seed set = 3.9%) and seedlings when pollinated by five Tripsacum spp., Zea mays spp. mays, and Zea luxurians during 1996 (Table 2).
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= 7.57). Pollen from Zea luxurians stimulated increased seed set (3.4%) compared to pollen from Zea mays spp. mays (0.2%), indicating increased compatibility between T. andersonii progeny 95-51 and Zea luxurians. Approximately 7% of the seedlings produced from T. andersonii progeny 95-51 during 1996 were twin seedlings resulting from polyembryony. Polyembryony has been documented in apomictic Tripsacum polyploids (Farquharson, 1955) and in apomictic maize x Tripsacum hybrids (Fokina, 1976; Kindiger, Sokolov, and Dewald, 1996).
Molecular studies
RAPD analysis using 40 decamer primers, OPC 1-20 and OPD 1-20, did not detect any variation in banding profiles among the eight T. andersonii accessions from diverse locations, indicating the species maintains a uniform genetic constitution (Table 3).
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| DISCUSSION |
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Among four individuals obtained in 1995 from T. andersonii progeny 95-51, two 82-chromosome derivatives (97-1 and 97-2) are likely products of apomixis, the 100-chromosome derivative (97-3) a result of sexual polyploidization (2n + n mating), and the 72-chromosome individual (97-4) resulted from an apparent elimination of the Zea group present in its maternal parent 95-51. PCR-RAPD analysis failed to detect any bands not present in the maternal parent of 97-4, indicating fertilization of the egg by the pollen source did not occur. Embryological and molecular studies have identified the infrequent occurrence of a partial meiotic first division restitution (FDR) event in Tripsacum polyploids, which defines the Taraxacum form of diplosporus apomixis (LeBlanc et al., 1995; Kindiger and Dewald, 1996). During this event, the opportunity for a low level of chromosome pairing and recombination may occur (Gustaffson, 1946). Perhaps partial pairing of the four Tripsacum genomes with elimination of the Zea chromosome from the lower dyad of 95-51 may account for the 72-chromosome individual.
The upper leaf sheaths of T. andersonii are glabrous, whereas its 82-chromosome progeny derived from open pollinations have densely pubescent leaf sheaths. This seems to implicate a Tripsacum spp. with pubescent leaf sheaths, i.e., T. maizar or T. pilosum, as the unknown pollen parents of the 82-chromosome progeny. Also, because the hairy leaf sheath trait is recessive in Tripsacum species hybrids (Galinat and Randolph, 1968) we would not expect it to appear in the progeny of the glabrous sheathed parent unless the gene(s) for this trait were already present, but suppressed in T. andersonii. This implies a hybrid origin, possibly an allotriploid derivation, of the Tripsacum genome components in T. andersonii with at least one parent having the hairy leaf sheath trait.
Of the 16 recognized species of Tripsacum, the stoloniferous growth habit is exclusive to T. andersonii and T. latifolium only. This suggests a relationship such as a common ancestor if not the direct involvement of T. latifolium in the parentage of T. andersonii as proposed by deWet et al. (1983). Although similarities in chloroplast DNA indicate T. laxum as the female parent of T. andersonii (Larson and Doebly, 1994), this does not exclude the involvement of T. latifolium in the parentage. An allotriploid hybrid between diploid T. laxum and tetraploid T. latifolium as the pollen parent followed by sexual polyploidization with the Zea parent could produce a 64-chromosome product with cpDNA similar to T. laxum and morphological characteristics similar to T. latifolium. Fertile triploid hybrids have been obtained from intermatings of diploid x tetraploid T. dactyloides, presumably as a result of apomictic reproduction (Dunfield, 1991; Dewald, Taliaferro, and Dunfield, 1992; Dewald and Kindiger, 1994). Fertile allotriploids have also been generated between diploid T. dactyloides and tetraploid T. maizar and T. zopilotense Hern. and Randolph (Dewald and Kindiger, 1994, unpublished data). Fertile triploids reproduced by apomixis, 2n + 0, and sexual polyploidization, 2n + n (Dewald and Kindiger, 1994; Kindiger and Dewald, 1994) and as such may have exerted major influences on Tripsacum evolution and speciation by providing an intermediate step for the creation of new and genetically unique germplasm in higher polyploids. The most direct route to the origin of T. andersonii appears to be through such a triploid bridge followed by sexual polyploidization with a Zea ancestor. All progeny of 95-51, with the exception of 97-4, appear identical in early vegetative morphology, indicating that its higher ploidy has a buffering effect against change. Derivative 97-4 has narrower leaves, a slower growth rate, and is more typical of Tripsacum than its predecessors and sibs. Derivative 97-4 and progeny of 95-51 produced in 1996 have not flowered at this time.
Considering the uniformity of accessions across a wide area of distribution in tropical Latin America, deWet et al. (1983) speculated that this anomalous species is of single hybrid origin of ancient derivation. Our PCR-RAPD analysis supports the hypothesis that T. andersonii accessions from seven countries are genetically uniform and probably represent a one-time intergeneric hybrid event.
The antiquity of T. andersonii is a matter of speculation, but its genetic uniformity across a wide area of distribution indicates an ancient origin as suggested by deWet et al. (1983). Relic genetic combinations that have been latent for centuries may be retrievable through horizontal gene flow as demonstrated in this study.
| FOOTNOTES |
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All programs and services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture are offered on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, or handicap.
Names are necessary to report factually on available data; however, the USDA neither guarantees nor warrants the standard of the product, and the use of the name by USDA implies no approval of the product to the exclusion of others that may also be suitable. ![]()
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