A Study of Somatic Association of Wheat Chromosomes

The distances between homologous, homeologous and unrelated telocentrics in hexaploid wheat and between homologous telocentrics in wheat-Aegilops speltoides amphiploids were measured in somatic metaphases. No significant differences were found in the mean distances between telocentric chromosomes of the four groups. Except for the homologous telocentrics in the amphiploids, the other three groups of measurements differed significantly from the theoretical distribution described for randomly distributed chromosomes by Feldman et al. (1966). The chromosomes of these three groups appeared to be closer to each other than expected for randomly distributed chromosomes according to the relationship proposed by Feldman et al. It is suggested that the theoretical distribution is only an approximation of the actual situation.