The study of introgressive lines of Triticum aestivum × Aegilops speltoides by in situ and SSR analyses

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with a genome‐specific repeat, Spelt1, and wheat simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to analyse the chromosome constitution of two Triticum aestivum×Aegilops speltoides introgressive lines. The lines 170/98i and 178/98i carried one and two subtelomeric regions of Ae. speltoides (per haploid genome), respectively, marked by Spelt1 repeats according to FISH data. SSR analysis detected homoeologous substitution of wheat chromosome 7D with Ae. speltoides chromosome 7S in the lines 178/98i and 170/98i as well as the assumed terminal translocation in the short arm of chromosome 3A in the line 178/98i. Anthocyanin pigmentation of the coleoptiles was found in the lines 170/98i and 178/98i and resulted from the 7S (7D) substitution. It was demonstrated that Spelt1 could be effectively used for the rapid identification (without DNA isolation) of terminal translocations of T. aestivum×Ae. speltoides introgressive lines as well as for further analysis of the stability of the hybrid plants.     

Pyrogenic transformation of organic matter in soils of forest bogs

Natural fires on forest bogs significantly affect all the groups and fractions of peat organic matter. The type and intensity of the fires are responsible for the depth of the pyrogenic transformation of peat. In the course of thermal destruction of peat organic matter, humus substances (humic acids in particular) are accumulated, which leads to changes in the type of humus; the humus reserves may increase by 1.5–8 times. Several ways of the formation of humus components related to the intensity of a fire are suggested. The regressive evolution of bog ecosystems caused by fires is a reversible process. The humus status of pyrogenically transformed horizons and their morphology are preserved within the peat deposit as a relic characteristic of the discrete metamorphosis of the soils.     

Stages of litter transformation in bog birch forests

In the litters (peaty, weakly decomposed, and strongly decomposed) of bog birch forests, the biochemical transformation of plant material includes several discrete stages. The best prediction of the decomposition stages is the set of indices characterizing the humus status of the soils: the C/N ratio, (ΣHA + ΣFA)/C_{polysaccharides}, and the contents of humic and fulvic acids of fraction 1 in the groups of plant debris of different sizes. The discrimination of the litters according to the level of the biochemical transformation of the organic residues was observed when using the (ΣHA + ΣFA)/C_{polysaccharides} ratio, which is 6.3 in the peaty litter and 11.2 and 18.4 in the weakly decomposed and strongly decomposed litters, respectively. The biochemical classification of litters in the bog birch forests is in agreement with the morphological classification of litters.     

Forest Pyrogenic Peat Soils and Gleyzems in Swampy Mountain Valleys in the South of Yenisei Siberia

Eurasian Soil Science - The differences between eutrophic peat soils (Hypereutric Sapric Histosols) and peaty gleyzems (Eutric Histic Gleysols) 20 years after a forest-peat fire have been studied...     

Genetic analysis of glume colour in common wheat cultivars from the former USSR

Genotypes for the glume colour character have been studied in 27 cultivars of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) originated from old landraces, and 1 specimen of T. petropavlovskyi Udacz. et Migusch. by means of analysis of the F₂ populations. The following tester lines have been used: white-glumed ‘Novosibirskaya 67’ ‘Diamant I’, and ‘Federation’, carrying the Rg1 gene alone; lines RL5405 and near-isogenic ‘Saratovskaya 29’ *5 (T. timopheevii Zhuk./T. tauschii (Coss.) Schmal.), carrying Rg2; line (1A ‘CS’ × ‘Strela’) with Rg3. The red glume colour in 21 cultivars of Triticum aestivum and in the accession of T. petropavlovskyi has been shown to be determined by the single gene Rg1, located on chromosome 1B. Five cultivars carrying the gene Rg3 for red glumes on chromosome 1A have been revealed. The cultivars ‘Zhnitsa’ and ‘Iskra’ carry the gene Rg3 alone. The red glume colour in the cultivars ‘Milturum 321’, ‘Milturum 2078’, ‘Sredneural'skaya’ is controlled by two genes, Rg1 and Rg3. In two common wheat cultivars, ‘Sarrubra’ and ‘Krasnoyarskaya 1103’ the red glume colour is determined by Rg1, inherited from local populations (‘Turka’ and ‘Kubanka’ respectively) of tetraploid wheat T. durum Desf. var. hordeiforme Host. Wide occurrence of the Rg1 gene in common wheat has been confirmed. On the contrary, none of the investigated varieties carries the gene Rg2. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Microsatellite monitoring of recombination around the Vrn-B1 locus of wheat during early backcross breeding

The length of chromosomal segments retained around the Vrn‐B1 gene controlling sensitivity to vernalization in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was studied in the first and third backcrosses by using microsatellite markers. Eleven polymorphic markers located on chromosome 5B were used for microsatellite analysis. It was shown in the first backcross that plants with a donor segment around the gene of interest not longer than 50% of chromosome 5B could be selected. When selection is not molecular‐marker assisted, the length of the chromosomal donor segment with the target gene may reach 94% of chromosome 5B even in plants of the third backcross generation. The considerable length differences in the 5B microsatellite loci between the winter and spring lines of wheat studied indicate that these markers are promising in marker‐assisted backcrossing or marker‐assisted selection for the Vrn‐B1 gene using different combinations of Spring and Winter genotypes.     

The development of precise genetic stocks in two wheat cultivars and their use in genetic analysis

Summary The results of genetic studies of common wheat that have been conducted in Novosibirsk, Russia, over the past 20 years by a research team are summarized. The research strategy was to develop a collection of aneuploids and substitution lines to be further used for chromosomal localization of genes and in the study of the genetic variability of wheat. On the basis of two cultivars, namely Saratovskaya 29 and Diamant, we have developed 6 sets of aneuploids with a complete set of monosomic lines for each, plus sets of lines ditelosomic and monotelosomic for standard arms. Exploiting the monotelosomics, 108 single chromosome intervarietal substitutions, 13 lines with alien substitutions (mono- and disomics) and 11 addition lines have been developed. A collection of lines isogenic for dominant marker genes of morphological characters has also been developed. The genetic collection was used in chromosomal localization of 15 genes, for many of which chromosome arms have been determined. Positively or negatively, the question of allelism within some loci has been answered.     

Effect of alien 5R(5A) chromosome substitution on ear-emergence time and winter hardiness in wheat-rye substitution lines

Ear emergence time and response to vernalization were investigated in 12 alien substitution lines in which a pair of chromosomes 5A of recipient spring wheat cultivars was replaced by a pair of chromosomes 5R of Siberian spring rye ‘Onokhoiskaya’. The recipients were 12 spring cultivars of common wheat, each carrying different Vrn genes. Spring rye ‘Onokhoiskaya’ had the Sp1 (now called Vrn-R1) gene for spring growth habit located on chromosome 5R, but its expression was weaker. The Vrn-R1 gene had no effect on growth habit, ear emergence time and response to vernalization in wheat-rye substitution lines. Ears emerged significantly later in the 5R(5A) alien substitution lines than in the recipient wheat cultivars with the Vrn-A1/Vrn-B1/vrn-D1 or Vrn-A1/vrn-B1/Vrn-D1 genotypes. No difference in ear emergence time was found between most of the 5R(5A) alien substitution lines and the cultivars carrying the recessive vrn-A1 gene. The presence of the Vrn2a and Vrn2b alleles at the Vrn2 (now called Vrn-B1) locus located on wheat chromosome 5B was confirmed.The replacement of chromosome 5A by chromosome 5R in wheat cultivars ‘Rang’ and ‘Mironovskaya Krupnozernaya’, which carries the single dominant gene Vrn-A1, converted them to winter growth habit. In field studies near Novosibirsk the winter hardiness of 5R(5A) wheat–rye substitution lines of ‘Rang’ and ‘Mironovskaya Krupnozernaya’ was increased by 20–47% and 27–34%, respectively, over the recurrent parents.     

Geostatistical analysis of the spatial variation of the ash reserves in the litter of bog birch forests in Western Siberia

A typological series of native Betula pubescens Ehrh. dendrocenoses along the channel of a river crossing a bog was studied. The variability of the mineral element reserves is described by geostatistical methods as the sum of a trend, autocorrelation, and random components. The contribution of deterministic and random components has been assessed in the years with average precipitation and in the year of 2007 with high and long-term flooding. The empirical variograms and the parameters of the model variograms are presented. The class of the spatial correlation of the ash reserves is described. A primary cause of the ash content’s variability is the specific water regime, which is determined by the following: (i) the abundance and duration of the spring floods responsible for the silt mass brought by the river and (ii) the draining effect of the intrabog river, the distance from which provided the formation in the forest of the ground cover with the specific species composition and ash content. The falloff of the arboreal layer in the bog birch forests formed the fundamental mineral background of the litter.     

Formalized classification of moss litters in swampy spruce forests of intermontane depressions of Kuznetsk Alatau

The approaches of multivariate statistics have been used for the numerical classification of morphogenetic types of moss litters in swampy spruce forests according to their physicochemical properties (the ash content, decomposition degree, bulk density, pH, mass, and thickness). Three clusters of moss litters— peat, peaty, and high-ash peaty—have been specified. The functions of classification for identification of new objects have been calculated and evaluated. The degree of decomposition and the ash content are the main classification parameters of litters, though all other characteristics are also statistically significant. The final prediction accuracy of the assignment of a litter to a particular cluster is 86%. Two leading factors participating in the clustering of litters have been determined. The first factor—the degree of transformation of plant remains (quality)—specifies 49% of the total variance, and the second factor—the accumulation rate (quantity)— specifies 26% of the total variance. The morphogenetic structure and physicochemical properties of the clusters of moss litters are characterized.