CHROMOSOME PAINTING TO LOCATE GENES FOR DROUGHT RESISTANCE TRANSFERRED FROM FESTUCA-ARUNDINACEA INTO LOLIUM-MULTIFLORUM

Genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) on mitotic chromosome preparation s of two diploid Lolium multiflorum-like drought-resistant plants deri ved from a L. multiflorum x Festuca arundinacea hybrid is described. W ith F. arundinacea DNA as probe, each introgression line was found to carry a single Festuca recombinant chromosome segment. In both plants, the introgressed Festuca chromosome segment was on the long arm of ch romosome 2 of the L. multiflorum-like hybrid derivative. A DNA probe o f F. pratensis, which is one of the progenitor species of F. arundinac ea, hybridized with the introgressed F. arundinacea chromosome segment . It is likely that genes that confer drought resistance have been tra nsferred from the F. pratensis subgenome of F. arundinacea to L. multi florum. It follows that the F. pratensis chromosome in F. arundinacea which is homoeologous to chromosome 2 in L. multiflorum carries genes for drought resistance.