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Garden asparagus ( Asparagus officinalis , 2n = 2x = 20 chromosomes) is an important dioecious vegetable crop and a model species for studying sex chromosome formation and evolution. However, few molecular cytogenetic studies on garden asparagus have been reported because of its small metaphase chromosomes, the scarcity of distinguished cytogenetic markers, and the high content of repetitive sequences. In this study, a set of single copy genes free of repetitive sequences with sizes ranging from 4.3 kb to 8.2 kb were screened and used as probes for fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to identify individual chromosomes of garden asparagus. The chromosome-specific signal distribution patterns of these probes enabled the distinguishment of each pair of chromosomes. The sequence assembly and cytogenetic map were successfully integrated, and the results confirmed that the chromosome 1 representing the sex chromosome in the genome assembly is chromosome 5 in the karyotype analysis. The cytogenetic identification of the male-specific region of the Y chromosome (MSY) was implemented using a mixed probe derived from a number of MSY-specific single copy sequences. In addition, the chromosome orthologous relationship between garden asparagus (A1-A10, karyotypic analysis) and its hermaphrodite close relative, A. setaceus (B1-B10, karyotypic analysis), was analyzed using this collection of chromosome-specific cytological markers. The results showed that B3 is the ortholog of sex chromosome A5 and thus may represent the ancestral autosome of the current sex chromosome in garden asparagus. Chromosomes B5, B4, B1, B8, B7, and B9 are the orthologs of A2, A3, A4, A7, A8, and A10, respectively. The chromosome identification, cytogenetic recognition of MSY, and the orthologous relationship analysis between garden asparagus and A. setaceus are valuable for the further investigation of the sex chromosome emergence and evolutionary mechanism of garden asparagus and genome structure evolution in the Asparagus genus., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 You, Wen, Zhang, Cheng, Zhang, Li, Deng, Li and Gao.)

Perennial wheat is considered to be a practical way to increase the flexibility and profitability of sustainable agricultural system, as it can be either a forage grass or a grain crop. Four perennial wheat lines SX12-480, SX12-787, SX12-1150, and SX12-1269 were developed from a series of interspecific crosses between common wheat ( Triticum aestivum , 2n = 42) or durum wheat ( T. turgidum var. durum , 2n = 28) and the intermediate wheatgrass ( Thinopyrum intermedium , 2n = 42). These lines were characterized by the vigorous regrowth for at least 3 years. The one- and 2-year-old plants had higher grain yield potential than the 3-year-old perennial plants. The decline of grain yield was associated with plant age-related effects on yield components. The perennial wheat lines were all resistant to both Heterodera avenae and H. filipjevi , the two distinct cereal cyst nematode species that occur in China, except that line SX12-787 exhibited moderate resistance only to H. avenae . The dual-purpose perennial wheat lines were evaluated for quality values of both defoliated grass and harvested grains in the form of amino acid profile, mineral concentration, and contents of protein and fiber. Difference in the quality profile was observed between the perennial lines. These perennial lines had an overall improved quality levels over those of the perennial wheat control Montana-2 ( T. turgidum × Th. intermedium ) and the annual wheat cultivar Jinchun 9. The amplification profiles of the molecular markers provided molecular evidence for the introgression of alien chromatin. Genomic in situ hybridization detected 16, 14, 14, and 12 Th. intermedium chromosomes in lines SX12-480 (2n = 48), SX12-787 (2n = 56), SX12-1150 (2n = 56), and SX12-1269 (2n = 54), respectively, in addition to either 32 or the complete set of wheat chromosomes. The four perennial wheat- Th. intermedium lines described here provide valuable sources of perennial wheat for the dual-purpose application of both grain and forage., (Copyright © 2020 Cui, Ren, Zhang, Tang, Guo, Niu, Yan, Sun and Li.)