Wild Secale species, Secale africanum Stapf., serve as a valuable source for increasing the diversity of cultivated rye (Secale cereale L.) and provide novel genes for wheat improvement. New wheat – S. africanum chromosome 1Rafr addition, 1Rafr(1D) substitution, 1BL.1RafrS and 1DS.1RafrL translocation, and 1RafrL monotelocentric addition lines were identified by chromosome banding and in situ hybridization. Disease resistance screening revealed that chromosome 1RafrS carries resistance gene(s) to new stripe rust races. Twenty-nine molecular markers were localized on S. africanum chromosome 1Rafr by the wheat – S. africanum introgression lines. Twenty markers can also identically amplify other reported wheat – S. cereale chromosome 1R derivative lines, indicating that there is high conservation between the wild and cultivated Secale chromosome 1R. Nine markers displayed polymorphic amplification between S. africanum and S. cereale chromosome 1Rafr derivatives. The comparison of the nucleotide sequences of these polymorphic markers suggested that gene duplication and sequence divergence may have occurred among Secale species during its evolution and domestication.
