Wheat chromosome 2D carries genes controlling the activity of two DNA-degrading enzymes.

DNA-degrading enzymes of 24.0 kDa and 27.0 kDa were observed to have different activities in two common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars, 'Wichita' and 'Cheyenne'. A substrate-based SDS-PAGE assay revealed that these two enzymes were much more active in 'Wichita' than in 'Cheyenne'. Genes controlling the activities of these two enzymes were localized on chromosome 2D by testing DNA-degrading activities in reciprocal chromosome substitution lines between 'Wichita' and 'Cheyenne'. While the allele on 'Wichita' chromosome 2D stimulated the activities of the 24.0- and 27.0-kDa enzymes in Cheyenne, the allele on 'Cheyenne' chromosome 2D did not reduce the activities of the 24-kDa and 27-kDa enzymes in 'Wichita'. Whether these genes code for the DNA-degrading enzymes themselves or for factors that regulate the enzyme activities remains unknown.