Abstract

The adaptability of Triticum aestivum to a large range of environments is partially due to genetic differences in sensitivity to vernalization. The most potent gene reducing the vernalization requirement in hexaploid wheat is Vrn-AI. An orthologous vernalization gene, designated Vrn-Am1, was mapped in the diploid wheat Triticum monococcum between RFLP markers Xwg908 and Xabg702 on the long arm of chromosome 5AmL. The orthology of VrnAm1 with Vrn-A1, Vrn-D1, Vrn-R1 and Vrn-H1 was shown by mapping RFLP markers linked to these vernalization genes on the T. monococcum linkage map. A second vernalization gene, designated Vrn-Am2, was found in the distal region of chromosome 5AmL within a segment translocated from homoeologous group 4. This gene is completely linked to RFLP marker Xbcd402 and located between the same RFLP markers as the Vrn-H2 locus in Hordeum vulgare.