THE NOR-D3 LOCUS OF TRITICUM-TAUSCHII - NATURAL VARIATION AND GENETIC-LINKAGE TO MARKERS IN CHROMOSOME-5

Variation in the intergenic spacer region of the ribosomal RNA genes (located at the Nor locus) was assayed in a collection of 411 accessions of Triticum tauschii from Turkey, USSR, Iran, Afghanisan, Pakistan, and China. Twenty rDNA genotypes were identified and it was demonstrated that T. tauschii accessions from the USSR and Iran have the highest diversity at the Nor locus. At least four of the rDNA genotypes were demonstrated to be alleles of a single major locus, in segregating F2 progeny analyses. The TaqI restriction fragment associated with rDNA genotype 7 was shown to be the same as the Nor-D3a allele present in all bread wheats (based on chromosome location and length of the intergenic spacer region). This genotype was significantly associated with T. t. ssp. strangulata, previously argued to be the donor of the D genome to hexaploid wheat. The Nor locus showed a high level of recombination with the 5SDna-2 locus, which was also located on chromosome 5D. The Nor locus is placed distal to the 5SDna-2 locus but proximal to the grain softness protein gene (XGsp) on the short arm of chromosome 5D.