Characterization of maize and teosinte using the variation in their knobs sequences

GONZÁLEZ, G. E.; FOURASTIÉ M. F.; POGGIO L.

Maize Genetics Cooperation News Letter

Maize Genetics Cooperation

Lugar: Missouri, USA; Año: 2009 vol. 83 p. 1 - 2

The aim of this work is to analyze the variation in the number of knobs and its sequence composition from different Norwest Argentineans strains of maize and some Mexican teosintes. DAPI banding and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) on interphase cells, using TR-1 and 180-bp repeats as labelled probes, were done. The experiments shown variations in number and sequence composition of DAPI+ knobs were found in five maize strains. However, the pattern was recurrent for each race. These experiments demonstrate that the variants of the patterns for number and sequence composition of the heterochromatic knobs, along with their subsequent localization within chromosomes, are useful markers for a proper cytogenetic characterization of maize races and teosintes. The knowledge of these variations will allow further research on the correlation described previously for the presence of knobs and crop altitude. Then, this methodology could be extrapolated to the cytogenetic characterization of commercial inbreeds and maize hybrids. On the other hand, the cytogenetic characterization of different Argentinean races of maize will contribute to the information about the availability of genetic variability within native materials, useful for its integration in future breeding plans and biodiversity conservation.