Variation of homologous recombination in Populus tomentosa with different genotypes.

Homologous recombination is an important source of biological genetic variation. Limited by detection methods, there are only a few reports on the homologous recombination in high plants and its product - heteroduplex DNA (hDNA). In the present study, applying the strategy of detecting hDNA by constructing populations from inhibited post-meiotic segregation, two hybrid triploid populations were constructed from two maternal parents inPopulus tomentosa by inhibiting post-meiotic segregation. One hundred and ten simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to study the occurrence and variation of hDNA on nine chromosomes inP. tomentosa with different genotypes. The results showed that the frequencies of hDNA between two female parents inP. tomentosa ranged from 8.5% to 87.2%. The hDNA frequency was positively correlated to the distance from the centromere, but the average hDNA frequency on a chromosome had no correlation with the chromosome length. One to 3 times recombination events were detected on most chromosomes, and only a few four- or five-times recombination events were detected. The overall frequencies of hDNA on the same chromosome in two genotypic individuals were roughly similar, while the hDNA frequencies varied greatly at specific SSR loci. Compared withTacamahaca poplar hybrid,P. pseudo-simonii × P. nigra 'Zheyin3#', detection of homologous recombination times and the frequency and location of hDNA were largely different. This study is the first to describe the characteristics and variations of homologous recombination inP. tomentosa with two different genotypes, which will provide valuable insights for exploring the characteristics and variations of homologous recombination among interspecies and intraspecies in higher plant.