Meiotic chromosome behaviours in M1 generation of bread wheat irradiated by gamma-rays

Growing plants of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. 2 n=6x=42, AABBDD) were subjected to acute or chronic irradiation by gamma-rays from 60Co and meiotic chromosome behaviours of PMCS in M1 generation were cytologically compared. Both acute and chronic irradiations produced different types of chromosomal aberrations at the meiotic stages. Among them, translocation type was the most frequent, followed by univalent type. A mixed type, i. e. translocation accompanying one or more univalents was often detected. Even normal type which lacked translocation and univalent included laggards and briclges without exception. Other meiotic abnormalities such as deletion, iso-chromosome and micronuclei were observed frequently in both treatments. Dose dependency of translocation frequency was not recognized in this experiment. In chronic irradiation, different chromosome numbers and meiotic behaviours were found not only among florets of a spike but also among anthers of a floret. A number of plants with aneuploid-like grass types occurred at a high frequency in M1, especially with low exposure