Genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) is a powerful tool to characterize parental chromosomes in interspecific hybrids, including the behaviour of autosynapsis and chromosome pairing. It was used to distinguish the chromosomes of Oryza sativa from wild species in a spontaneous interspecific hybrid and to investigate the chromosome pairing at metaphase I in meiosis of the hybrid in this study. The hybrid was a triploid with 36 chromosomes according to the chromosome number investigated in mitosis of root tips. During metaphase I of meiosis in the hybrid, less chromosome pairing was observed and most of the chromosomes existed as univalent. Based on GISH and FISH (Fluorescent in situ hybridization) analyses, the chromosomes of the hybrid were composed of genomes A, B and C. Thus, it was believed that the hybrid was the result of natural hybridization between cultivated rice and wild species O. minuta which was planted in experimental fields.
In order to obtain marker-free transgenic rice with improved disease resistance, the AP1 gene of Capsicum annuum and hygromycin-resistance gene (HPT) were cloned into the two separate T-DNA regions of the binary vector pSB130, respectively, and introduced into the calli derived from the immature seeds of two elite japonica rice varieties, Guangling Xiangjing and Wuxiangjing 9, mediated by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Many cotransgenic rice lines containing both the AP1 gene and the marker gene were regenerated and the integration of both transgenes in the transgenic rice plants was confirmed by either PCR or Southern blotting technique. Several selectable marker-free transgenic rice plants were subsequently obtained from the progeny of the cotransformants, and confirmed by both PCR and Southern blotting analysis. These transgenic rice lines were tested in the field and their resistance to disease was carefully investigated, the results showed that after inoculation the resistance to either bacterial blight or sheath blight of the selected transgenic lines was improved when compared with those of wild type.
