Cytology, fertility, and origin of Elymus abolinii (Drob.) Tzvelev and its F1 hybrids with Pseudoroegneria spicata, E. lanceolatus, E. dentatus ssp. ugamicus, and E. drobovii (Poaceae: Triticeae)
Chromosome pairing and hybrid fertility provide a direct measure of phylogenetic relationships between different taxa. Five accessions of Elymus abolinii (Drob.) Tzvelev were studied to (i) determine their reproductive characteristics; (ii) describe phylogenetic relationships and genomic affinities through chromosome pairing and fertility in the species and species hybrid complex with closely related taxa; (iii) evaluate the morphological variation between related taxa; and (iv) propose a possible origin for E. abolinii. Interspecific and intergeneric hybrids with E. abolinii were obtained from the following "analyzer" parents: Pseudoroegneria spicata (Pursh) A. Love, E. lanceolatus (Scribn. &Smith) Gould, E. dentatus (Hook, f.) Tzvelev ssp. ugamicus (Drob.) Tzvelev, and E. drobovii (Nevski) Tzvelev. The results showed that E. abolinii is an allotetraploid forming 14 bivalents in 95% of the cells, and it is self-fertilizing. Chromosome pairing within the species hybrid complex demonstrated that E. abolinii comprises the S and Y genomes, with close affinities to other eastern Chinese taxa that comprise the S and Y genomes. Multivariate analysis of morphological characters supports the hypothesis that E. abolinii originated from a natural hybridization between E. dentatus ssp. ugamicus and E. gmelinii Ledeb.) Tzvelev, followed by a possible backcross with E. dentatus ssp. ugamicus.Key words: genome, meiosis, chromosome pairing, morphology, hybrid, Triticeae.