Genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) discriminates between the A and the B genomes in diploid and tetraploid Setaria species

Genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) was used to investigate genomic relationships between different Setaria species of the foxtail millet gene pool (S. italica) and one interspecific F-1 hybrid. The GISH patterns obtained on the two diploid species S. viridis (genome A) and S. adhaerans (genome B), and on their F-1 hybrid showed clear differentiation between these two genomes except at the nucleolar organizing regions. Similar GISH patterns allowed differentiation of S. italica from S. adhaerans. However, GISH patterns did not distinguish between the genomes of S. italica and its putative wild ancestor S. viridis. GISH was also applied to polyploid Setaria species and enabled confirmation of the assumed allotetraploid nature of S. faberii and demonstration that both S. verticillata and S. verticillata var. ambigua were also allotetraploids. All these tetraploid species contained two sets of 18 chromosomes each, one from genome A and the other from genome B. Only one polyploid species, S. pumila, was shown to bear an unknown genomic composition that is not closely related either to genome A or to genome B.