Development of molecular cytogenetics and physical mapping of ribosomal RNA genes in Lupinus

Identification of individual chromosomes in Lupinus is not possible due to gradient in size and similar morphology. To overcome this problem, molecular cytogenetics was developed for Lupinus. As an initial step in karyotype analysis, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed to determine genomic distribution of rRNA genes in L. hispanicus, L. luteus and L. x hispanicoluteus. It was found that all three diploid species posses two chromosome pairs carrying 18S-5.8S-25S rDNA and one chromosome pair carrying 5S rDNA. The use of probes for rDNA permitted unambiguous identification of three different pairs of chromosomes and revealed conservation of the number of rDNA loci among the three species. The study represents the first step in physical mapping of Lupinus genome through FISH by providing distinct chromosome landmarks.