5-azacytidine induces chromosomal breakage in the root tips of wheat carrying the cuckoo chromosome 4SL from Aegilops sharonensis

The cuckoo chromosome 4SL from Aegilops sharonensis is preferentially transmitted when introduced by hybridization into common wheat, Triticum aestivum. Gametocidal (Gc) factors carried in 4SL induce chromosome breakage in meiospores not containing them, ensuring their transmission to the progeny. Chromosome breakage and break–fusion–bridge (BFB) cycles can also be observed during early embryo sac development of chromosome 4SL addition lines to wheat, often leading to the presence of dicentric chromosomes in the subsequent progeny. However, the process responsible for inducing the primary chromosomal breaks only appears to occur during the initial divisions of the embryo and endosperm. In the presence of chromosome 4SL, treatment with the hypomethylating agent 5-azacytidine induces chromosome breakage in root tips. This suggests that the process of chromosome fragmentation, induced by the Gc factors during early seed development, is repressed at later stages by DNA methylation.