Effects of the diploidisation process upon the 5S and 35S rDNA sequences in the allopolyploid species of the Dilatata group of Paspalum (Poaceae, Paniceae)

The Dilatata group of Paspalum includes species and biotypes native to temperate South America. Among them, five sexual allotetraploids (x = 10) share the same IIJJ genome formula: P. urvillei Steud, P. dasypleurum Kunze ex Desv., P. dilatatum subsp. flavescens Roseng., B.R. Arrill.& Izag., and two biotypes P. dilatatum Vacaria and P. dilatatum Virasoro. Previous studies suggested P. intermedium Munro ex Morong& Britton and P. juergensii Hack. or related species as their putative progenitors and donors of the I and J genome, respectively, and pointed to a narrow genetic base for their maternal origin. It has not yet been established whether the various members of the Dilatata group are the result of a single or of multiple allopolyploid formations. Here, we aimed to study the evolutionary dynamics of rRNA genes after allopolyploidisation in the Dilatata group of Paspalum and shed some light into the genome restructuring of the tetraploid taxa with the same genome formula. We used double target fluorescence in situ hybridisation of 35S and 5S rDNA probes and sequenced the nrDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. A variable number of loci at the chromosome ends were observed for the 35S rDNA, from 2 to 6, suggesting gain and loss of sites. For the 5S rDNA, only one centromeric pair of signals was observed, indicating a remarkable loss after polyploidisation. All ITS sequences generated were near identical to the one found for P. intermedium. Although sequences showed a directional homogeneisation towards the putative paternal progenitor in all tetraploid species, the observed differences in the number and loss of rDNA sites suggest independent ongoing diploidisation processes in all taxa and genome restructuring following polyploidy.