THE CYTOGENETIC POSITION OFAVENA DAMASCENAAMONG THE DIPLOID OATS
The diploid oat Avena damascena was successfully crossed with the diploids A. prostrata and A. strigosa. Chromosome pairing in A. strigosa × A. damascena hybrid indicated that the two parental species differ by three translocations. This hybrid also was completely sterile. The greater affinity of A. damascena to A. prostrata than to A. strigosa could be concluded from the smaller number of multivalents and the partial fertility of the A. prostrata × A. damascena hybrid. Although the number of chromosome rearrangements between A. damascena and A. strigosa was compatible with those found between A. prostrata and these two species, a marked difference in the frequency of the various translocations was noted. Predominantly bivalent pairing characterized the A. prostrata × A. damascena amphidiploid. The lack of segregation of a marker gene in the F2indicated conspicuous preferential pairing in this amphidiploid. A comparison of the number of bivalents per cell in this and in other amphidiploids involving the strigosa-like species suggests that the A. damascena genome has a high potential for preferential pairing.