Ethnolinguistic Information about RUGYS (Rye) in Lithuanian Dialect Dictionaries

The article analyzes what ethnolinguistic information about rye can be read in the entries of Lithuanian dialect dictionaries. The research data were selected from thirteen dictionaries of Lithuanian dialects and the comprehensive Lietuvių kalbos žodynas (Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language). Thus, dialectal dictionaries are an excellent source of lexical semantic research based on the research methodology of the linguistic image of the world. The research presented in the article was inspired by the Słownik stereotypόw i symboli ludowych (SSiSL) (Dictionary of Folk Stereotypes and Symbols) published by the Lublin Ethnolinguistic School.An attempt is being made to find an answer to the question whether rugys (rye) is just a source of food and a basis for biological existence for Lithuanian farmers and rural residents? It is assumed that rye is synonymous with bread as a gift from God to farmers. According to folklore sources, people sacrificed the best stook of rye to God. According to the tradition of the Polish people, rye is a symbol of abundance, wealth, kindness; according to the tradition of the Lithuanians it is a symbol of growth, vitality, fertility and endurance.Analyzing the data of Lithuanian dialect dictionaries and the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language it was established that the lexeme rye is used in various parts of lexicographic articles: 1) as a title word in dictionary entries; 2) in definitions and illustrative sentences; 3) in the illustrations of entries of other words (for example, crops, grain, shoot, winter crops); 4) in terminological compounds (e. g. African rye (Secale africanum), annual cereal (Secale cereale), cereal grass (Secale sylvestre); 5) in paremias; 6) in phraseological compounds.The lexicographic definition of the lexeme rye highlights the following features of the category: a plant, eared (various properties: winter crop, upright, strong, dense, etc.), a symbol of everyday life. The illustrative examples of the words reflect man’s respect for rye as a plant that gives bread.

Characterization of wheat – Secale africanum introgression lines reveals evolutionary aspects of chromosome 1R in rye

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.

Isolation and chromosomal localization of new MITE-like sequences from Secale

A species-specific DNA sequence (marker) that can detect the presence of Secale cereale chromatin in common wheat background was developed by using wheat microsatellite primer Xgwm614. One rye-specific DNA amplified fragment of 416bp (pSa614416) was obtained from Secale africanum and a wheat — S. africanum amphiploid. The primer Xgwm614 also gave rise to specific bands in all Chinese Spring-Imperial rye addition lines 1R to 7R. Sequence analysis revealed that pSa614416 was strongly homologous to a miniature inverted transposable element (MITE) stowaway-like element. Results of fluorescence in situ hybridization showed that the signal of pSa614416 was distributed along all S. cereale. cv Jingzhou chromosomes, but the signal strengths were unbalanced on the seven rye genome chromosomes. This repetitive element may be useful as a molecular marker for the introgression of rye germplasm into the wheat genome.

Painting the rye genome with genome-specific sequences

We used rye-specific repetitive DNA sequences in fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to paint the rye genome and to identify rye DNA in a wheat background. A 592 bp fragment from the rye-specific dispersed repetitive family R173 (named UCM600) was cloned and used as a FISH probe. UCM600 is dispersed over the seven rye chromosomes, being absent from the pericentromeric and subtelomeric regions. A similar pattern of distribution was also observed on the rye B chromosomes, but with weaker signals. The FISH hybridization patterns using UCM600 as probe were comparable with those obtained with the genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) procedure. There were, however, sharper signals and less background with FISH. UCM600 was combined with the rye-specific sequences Bilby and pSc200 to obtain a more complete painting. With these probes, the rye chromosomes were labeled with distinctive patterns; thus, allowing the rye cultivar ‘Imperial’ to be karyotyped. It was also possible to distinguish rye chromosomes in triticale and alien rye chromatin in wheat–rye addition and translocation lines. The distribution of UCM600 was similar in cultivated rye and in the wild Secale species Secale vavilovii Grossh., Secale sylvestre Host, and Secale africanum Stapf. Thus, UCM600 can be used to detect Secale DNA introgressed from wild species in a wheat background.