Abstract
Nucleolar activity was analyzed in wheat (Triticum sp.), rye (Secale cereale) and several types of wheat-rye derivatives using a modified, highly reproducible, silver staining procedure (Lacadena et al. 1984). A comparative analysis of the nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) of somatic metaphase chromosomes was made by phase contrast, C-banding, and silver staining. The frequency distribution of the number of nucleoli visualized at interphase by silver staining was also used to infer the activity of NORs. The results agree quite well with data from in situ hybridization reported by other authors. The behavior of euploid, ditelosomic and nulli-tetrasomic plants of common wheat showed the relative nucleolar activity of the four organizer chromosomes to be: 6B > 1B > 5D > 1A. — Several types of wheat-rye derivatives were analyzed: interspecific hybrid, triticale, addition and substitution lines, and plants with the genome constitutions, AABBDR, ABDR + 5D, ABRR, and ABRRR. In all cases the nucleolar organizer chromosome 1R of rye was suppressed by the presence of wheat chromosomes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Appels R, Gerlach WL, Dennis ES, Swift H, Peacock WJ (1980) Molecular and chromosomal organization of DNA sequences coding for the ribosomal RNAs in cereals. Chromosoma 78:293–311
Bhowal JG (1972) Nucleolar chromosomes in wheat. Z Pflanzenzücht 68:253–257
Bloom SE, Goodpasture C (1976a) An improved technique for selective silver staining of nucleolar regions in human chromosomes. Hum Genet 34:199–206
Crosby AR (1957) Nucleolar activity of lagging chromosomes in Wheat. Am J Bot 44:813–822
Flavell RB, Martini G (1982) The genetic control of nucleolus formation with special reference to common bread wheat. In: Jordan WG, Cullis CA (eds) The nucleolus, Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, pp 113–128
Flavell RB, O'Dell M (1976) Ribosomal RNA genes on homoeologous chromosomes of groups 5 and 6 in hexaploid wheat. Heredity 37:377–385
Flavell RB, O'Dell M (1979) The genetic control of nucleolus formation in wheat. Chromosoma 71:135–152
Flavell RB, Smith DB (1974a) Variation in nucleolar organiser rRNA gene multiplicity in wheat and rye. Chromosoma 47:327–334
Flavell RB, Smith DB (1974b) The role of homoeologous group 1 chromosomes in the control of rRNA genes in wheat. Biochem Genet 12:271–279
Gerlach WL, Miller TE, Flavell RB (1980) The nucleolus organizers of diploid wheat revealed by in situ hybridization. Theor Appl Genet 58:97–100
Giraldez R, Cermeño MC, Orellana J (1979) Comparison of C-banding pattern in the chromosomes of inbred lines and open pollinated varieties of rye, Secale cereale L. Z Pflanzenzucht 83:40–48
Goodpasture C, Bloom SE (1975) Visualization of nucleolar organizer regions in mammalian chromosomes using silver staining. Chromosoma 53:37–50
Hizume M, Sato S, Tanaka A (1980) A highly reproducible method of nucleolus organizing regions staining in plants. Stain Technol 55:87–90
Howell WM (1977) Visualization of ribosomal gene activity: Silver stains proteins associated with rRNA transcribed from oocyte chromosomes. Chromosoma 62:361–367
Howell WM (1982) Selective staining of nucleolus organizer regions (NORs). Cell Nucleus 11:89–142
Howell WM, Denton TE, Diamond JR (1975) Differential staining of the satellite regions of human acrocentric chromosomes. Experientia 31:260–262
Hubbell HR, Rothblum LI, Hsu TC (1979) Identification of a silver binding protein associated with the cytological silver staining of an actively transcribing nucleolar region. Cell Biol Int Rep 3:615–622
Hutchinson J, Miller TE (1982) The nucleolar organisers of tetraploid and hexaploid wheats revealed by in situ hybridisation. Theor Appl Genet 61:285–288
Jordan EG, Bennett MD, Smith JB (1982) Nucleolar organizers and fibrillar centres in Triticum aestivum L. cv. Chinese Spring. Chromosoma 87:447–459
Lacadena JR, Cermeño MC, Orellana J, Santos JL (1984) Evidence for wheat-rye nucleolar competition (amphiplasty) in triticale by silver-staining procedure. Theor Appl Genet 67:207–213
Lange W, Jochemsen G (1976) Karyotypes, nucleoli, and amphiplasty in hybrids between Hordeum vulgare L. and Hordeum bulbosum L. Genetica 46:217–233
Martini G, O'Dell M, Flavell RB (1982) Partial inactivation of wheat nucleolus organisers by the nucleolus organiser chromosomes from Aegilops umbellulata. Chromosoma 84:687–700
Medina FJ, Risueño MC, Lacadena JR (1980) Ultrastructural aspects of tetrads with micronuclei in a wheat monosomic. Cell Biol Int Rep 4:569–577
Medina FJ, Risueño MC, Sánchez-Pina MA, Fernández-Gomez ME (1983) A study on nucleolar silver staining in plant cells. The role of argyrophilic proteins in nucleolar physiology. Chromosoma 88:149–155
Miller DA, Dev VG, Tantravahi R, Miller OJ (1976a) Suppression of human nucleolus organizer activity in mouse-human somatic hybrid cells. Exp Cell Res 101:235–243
Miller OJ, Miller DA, Dev VG, Tantravahi R, Croce CM (1976b) Expression of human and suppression of mouse nucleolar organizer activity in mouse-human somatic cell hybrids. Proc Natl Acad Sci 73:4531–4535
Miller TE, Gerlach WL, Flavell RB (1980) Nucleolus organiser variation in wheat and rye revealed by in situ hybridisation. Chromosoma 45:377–382
Miller TE, Hutchinson J, Reader SM (1983) The identification of the nucleolus organiser chromosomes of diploid wheat. Theor Appl Genet 65:145–147
Mohan J, Flavell RB (1974) Ribosomal RNA cistron multiplicity and nucleolar organizers in hexaploid wheat. Genetics 76:33–44
Naranjo T, Lacadena JR, Giraldez R (1979) Interaction between wheat and rye genomes on homologous and homoeologous pairing. Z Pflanzenzucht 82:289–305
Navashin MS (1928) Amphiplastie — eine neue karyologische Erscheinung. Proc Int Conf Genet 5:1148–1152
Sato S, Hizume M, Kawamura S (1980) Relationship between secondary constrictions and nucleolus organizing regions in Allium sativum chromosomes. Protoplasma 105:77–85
Schmiady H, Münke M, Sperling K (1979) Ag-staining of nucleolus organizer regions on human prematurely condensed gene activity. Exp Cell Res 121:425–428
Viegas WS, Mello-Sampayo T (1975) Nucleolar organization in the genus Triticum. Broteria Ser Cienc Nat 44:121–133
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cermeño, M.C., Orellana, J., Santos, J.L. et al. Nucleolar organizer activity in wheat, rye and derivatives analyzed by a silver-staining procedure. Chromosoma 89, 370–376 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331254
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331254