Biochemical data bearing on the relationship between the genome of Triticum urartu and the A and B genomes of the polyploid wheats.

To determine whether the Triticum urartu genome is more closely related to the A or B genome of the polyploid wheats, the amino acid sequence of its purothionin was compared to the amino acid sequences of the purothionins in Triticum monococcum, Triticum turgidum, and Triticum aestivum. The residue sequence of the purothionin from T. urartu differs by five and six amino acid substitutions respectively from the alpha 1 and alpha 2 forms coded for by genes in the B and D genomes, and is identical to the beta form specified by a gene in the A genome. Therefore, the T. urartu purothionin is either coded by a gene in the A genome or a chromosome set highly homologous to it. The results demonstrate that at least a portion of the T. urartu and T. monococcum genomes is homologous and probably identical. A variety of other studies have also shown that T. urartu is very closely related to T. monococcum and, in all likelihood, also possesses the A genome. Therefore, it could be argued that either T. urartu and T. monococcum are the same species or that T. urartu rather than T. monococcum is the source of the A genome in T. turgidum and T. aestivum. Except for Johnson's results, our data and that of others suggest a revised origin of polyploid wheats. Specifically, the list of six putative B genome donor species is reduced to five, all members of the Sitopsis section of the genus Aegilops.