BOUQUET-LIKE ATTACHMENT PLATE FOR TELOMERES IN LEPTOTENE OF RYE REVEALED BY HETEROCHROMATIN STAINING

Using a "C" banding technique, the behavior of the heterochromatic telomeres of rye (Secale cereale L.) was followed throughout the meiotic cycle. Marked aggregation of these telomeres occurred during leptotene concurrently with nucleolar fusion. A conspicuous chromocenter was formed at the nuclear membrane, often in association with the single nucleolus. Telomere groupings at later stages, which derived from this chromocenter, included nonheterochromatic telomeres which indicated that the association did not depend on the presence of heterochromatin. This aggregation of the telomeres at the nuclear membrane makes leptotene in rye comparable to published reports of the leptotene bouquet, even though characteristic polarization of the chromosome segments close to the bouquet attachment plate was not seen in rye. Because telomere aggregation is often associated with nucleolar fusion, it is concluded that similar attachments are formed when nucleoli fuse at meiosis of hexaploid wheat, although because of the absence of heterochromatic telomers in wheat, no chromocenters are observed.