Development and application of a new codominant PCR marker for detecting 1BL.1RS wheat-rye chromosome translocations

The 1BL.1RS translocation has been widely used in wheat breeding programmes throughout the world. Unfortunately, this translocation has frequently resulted in unsatisfactory grain processing quality. Two primer combinations derived from the published sequence of a omega-secalin gene on 1RS gave polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragments 0.4 and 1.1 kb in size. Both fragments can be used to quickly detect 1BL.1RS translocations. By combining the PCR assay resulting in the 1.1-kb fragment from 1RS and a PCR assay resulting in a 0.6-kb fragment from the Glu-B3 gene on 1BS, plants homozygous for the 1BL 1RS could clearly be distinguished from the heterozygous ones. This codominant marker was successfully applied to genotype a segregating F-2 population and a local cultivar collection.