Behaviour of Sinapis alba chromosomes in a Brassica napus background revealed by genomic in-situ hybridization

Genomic in-situ hybridization (GISH) was applied to study the behaviour of addition chromosomes in first and second backcross (BC) progenies of hybrids between Brassica napus ssp. napus L. (AACC, 2n = 38) and Sinapis alba L. (SS, 2n = 24) produced by electrofusion. With GISH using genomic DNA of S. alba was used as probe it was possible to clearly distinguish both of the parental genomes and effectively monitor the fate of S. alba chromosomes in the BC1 and BC2 progenies. GISH analysis confirmed the sesquidiploid genome composition (AACCS) of the BC1 progenies, which contained 38 chromosomes from B. napus and 12 chromosomes from S. alba. Genome painting in the pollen mother cells (PMCs) of the BC1 plants revealed intergenomic association between B. napus and S. alba chromosomes, whereby a maximum of 4 trivalents between AC and S chromosomes were identified at metaphase I. In the BC2 progenies, aneuploids with different numbers of additional chromosomes from S. alba, ranging from 1 to 7, were confirmed. Three putative monosomic alien addition lines were characterized, and the results are discussed with respect to the potential for intergenomic chromosome recombination.