KARYOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A HIGH-YIELDING EMMER WHEAT (TRITICUM-DICOCCUM L) LINE WITH 2 RECIPROCAL HOMOZYGOUS T4BS-CENTER-DOT-SAL AND T5AS-CENTER-DOT-4BL TRANSLOCATION CHROMOSOME PAIRS

A Leishman-C-banded karyotype of PI 254148 emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum L.) was analyzed. PI 254148 is a high yielding line. It was compared with 'Lewis' barley, 'Otana' oats, and 9 other emmer wheat lines in a 5-year yield trial. It ranked second after Lewis barley, yielding 2.46 MT/ha outyielding other emmer lines in this trial. It outyielded the standard variety North Dakota emmer by 102% in 1989. The PI 254148 C-banding karyotype shows a reciprocal homozygous translocation (T4BS . 5AL/T5AS . 4BL). The banding patterns show that the translocation breakpoints are located within the centromere regions of the chromosomes involved. As to our knowledge, this is the first report of a 5A/4B chromosome translocation in wheat. The authors believe it is possible that the constant high yield of PI 254148 is facilitated by the chromosome translocation which may have caused a position effect.