GENOME IDENTIFICATION OF THE TRITICUM-CRASSUM COMPLEX (POACEAE) WITH THE RESTRICTION PATTERNS OF REPEATED NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCES

Species of the Triticum crassum complex, tetraploid and hexaploid T. crassum, hexaploid T. juvenale, and hexaploid T. syriacum, share a similar morphology. Variation in the restriction profiles of nuclear repeated nucleotide sequences is employed in identification of genomes of these species. The data show that hexaploid T. crassum originated from hybridization of the tetraploid cytotype of T. crassum with T. tauschii. Triticum juvenale and T. syriacum originated from hybridization of tetraploid T. crassum with T. umbellulatum and T. searsii, respectively. Tetraploid T. crassum appears to be an ancient allotetraploid that originated from hybridization of primitive T. tauschii with an ancient species in the evolutionary lineage leading to the section Sitopsis of the genus Triticum.