Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 14 April 2021 doi:10.20944/preprints202104.0375.v1 Original Research article Chromosome and molecular analyses reveal significant intraspecific karyotype diversity and provide new evidence on the origin of tetraploid grass Aegilops columnaris Ekaterina D. Badaeva1,2*, Nadezhda N. Chikida3, Andrey N. Fisenko1, Sergei A. Surzhikov2, Maria Kh. Belousova3, Hakan Özkan4, Alexandra Yu. Dragovich1, and Elena Z. Kochieva5 1 – N.I.Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences. Gubkina street 3, GSP-1, Moscow 119991, Russia 2 – Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Vavilova street 34, GSP-1, Moscow 119991, Russia 3 - Federal Research Center, N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources, Bolshaya Morskaya street 44, St. Petersburg 190121, Russia 4 – Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Çukurova, 01330 Adana, Turkey 5 - Federal Research Center “Fundamentals of Biotechnology” of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 60 let Oktjabrya prospect 7, build. 1, Moscow 117312, Russia * - corresponding author: Badaeva Ekaterina D., e-mail:
[email protected]; tel: +7 499 135- 0460; Fax: +7 499 132 8962 Abstract: Aegilops columnaris Zhuk. is tetraploid grass species (2n=4x=28, UcUcXcXc) closely related to Ae. neglecta and growing in Western Asia and a western part of the Fertile Crescent. Genetic diversity of Ae. columnaris was assessed using C-banding, FISH, nuclear and chloroplast (cp)DNA analyses, and gliadin electrophoresis. Cytogenetically Ae. columnaris was subdivided into two groups, C-I and C-II, showing different karyotype structure, C-banding and FISH patterns. Group C-I was more similar to Ae.