Wheat Studies–Retrospect and Prospects–

309 Pages·1982·11.298 MB·English

by  Hitoshi KIHARA (Eds.)

Developments in Crop Science
Volume 1 Oil Palm Research, edited by R.H.V. Corley, J.J. Hardon
and B.J. Wood
Volume 2 Application of Mutation Breeding Methods in the Improvement
of Vegetatively Propagated Crops, by C. Broertjes and A.M.
van Harten
Volume 3 Wheat Studies, by H. Kihara
OIVILOPMINTf IHCROPSCIIHCI 3
WHEAT STUDIES
-RETROSPECT ANO PROSPECTS-
by Hitoshi KIHARA
Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama {Japan)
8
1982
KODANSHA LTD. ELSEVIER SCIENTIFIC
Tokyo PUBLISHING COMPANY
Amsterdam-Oxford-New York
O KODANSHA SCIENTIFIC BOOK
Copyright © 1982 by Kodansha Ltd.
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, retrieval
system, or any other means, without the written permission of Kodansha Ltd. (except
in the case of brief quotation for criticism or review)
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Kihara, Hitoshi.
Wheat Studies, retrospects and prospects.
(Developments in crop science ; 3) (Kodansha
scientific book)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Wheat--Genetics· 2. "Wheat—Breeding. 3. Hybridi-
zation, Vegetable. I. Title. II. Series. HIl Series:
Kodansha scientific books.
SB191.W5I&95 633.ΙΊ23 81-22170
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PKINTED IN JAPAN
In memory of
Professor Dr. Tetsu Sakamura
Introduction
Research and more research, have been the main force that has shaped
my life. This book tells a story that covers sixty-three long years, beginning
with my graduation from Hokkaido University in 1918 to the present year,
1981. Wheat has been the principal object of my research. My interest,
however, has also been attracted to other plants in the course of my pursuit
of cytogenetical studies. At times, I have immersed myself in physiological
as well as morphological studies.
As I have described in the main body of this work my first fateful en-
counter with wheat research occurred when the late Dr. Tetsu Sakamura
turned over his entire collection of materials and data to me. This data
contained a most important discovery, for in the previous year, 1917, he
had discovered, and established from his examination of wheat and related
cereals, that polyploidy in seven or multiples of seven was a characteristic
of their chromosomes. These findings were quite in agreement with the
classification by Schulz who, in 1913, divided wheat into three groups,
namely einkorn, emmer and dinkel. Sakamura noted that each group
named by Schulz possessed chromosomes in the haploid numbers 7, 14
and 21 respectively. Prior to this finding, it was generally accepted that
n = 8 and 2n = 16 for all species of wheat. These new discoveries by
Sakamura created a sensation and set into motion further investigations
around the world. Their conclusions only served to confirm the accuracy
of Dr. Sakamura's calculations. On the heels of this notable finding, Dr.
Sakamura took up another experiment, that of the intergroup hybridiza-
tion of wheat, each group differing from the others in chromosome num-
ber. He succeeded in obtaining seeds. It was I who was to receive these
precious seeds spurring my initial move into research on the pentaploid
hybrids between emmer and dinkel. My life work to which I have devoted
sixty three years was thus launched.
Regrettably, Dr. Sakamura could not continue with his study of
XI
xii INTRODUCTION
wheat for it fell to his lot in 1918 to leave Japan for two years research
overseas to ready himself for the chair of plant physiology to which he was
to be appointed.
My hope had been to dedicate this book to Dr. Sakamura during
his lifetime, but, much to my regret, he passed away in October 1980
at the venerable age of ninety-two. The greatness of Dr. Sakamura's
contributions to the study of plant physiology is beyond measure but
since it was through his efforts and writings that I was to be directly in-
volved, I feel quite strongly that his life-long endeavor and achievements
should be noted in the pages of scientific history.
My wheat research program began to take shape following my
transfer to Kyoto University where I joined the faculty of science to
deliver lectures on genetics. At that time, to qualify for a teaching post in
an Imperial University, it was required that a candidate study for two years
in a foreign country or countries. To meet this requirement, I travelled to
study for two years (1925-1927) at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Biologie
in Berlin-Dahlem, Germany. The director was Professor C. Correns.
During the two-year stay, I visited many research institutions as I
wended my way through Northern Europe, the Soviet Union, Denmark,
Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium and other countries. Through in-
troductions to and associations with an impressive number of scientists
of that period, I was able to gain new insights. Now many of these pro-
fessors and colleagues are gone and I am denied the pleasure of looking
forward to meeting them again. Going back in memory, I shall list the
the names of scholars and researchers I met during my European sojourn.
They are listed below by country:
Germany: C. Correns, E. Baur, H. Winkler, G. Tischler and
I. Renner
Denmark: Ö. Winge and W. Johansen
U.S.S.R. : M. Navashin, N. Koltzov, G. Karpechenko and
N. Vavilov*1
Sweden : H. Nilsson-Ehle, O. Rosenberg, G. Turesson and A.
Müntzing*2
Finland : H. Federley and O. Meurman
Belguim : H. de Winiwarter
Holland : Hugo de Vries and Th. J. Stomps
*1 In 1930 Vavilov came to Japan so I met him in Kyoto.
*2 I am not sure whether I met Prof. Müntzing in 1926. However, I met him and
Mrs. Müntzing in 1948 and later. He still enjoys good health, continues his research
and produces valuable reports.
Introduction xiii
Austria: Von Tschermak, H. Molisch and H. Bleier
Note: To have met with the great scholars, de Vries, Correns and Tschermak, the
so-called rediscoverers of the Mendelian law was truly rare good fortune. Vavilov was
away on a trip but I had been invited to stay in his office while Karpechenko took care
of my meals.
Wrapping up my European trip in the spring of 1927, I made a
stopover in England on my way to the United States of America. Although
my stay in England was short, I was able to pay a visit to the John Innes
Horticultural Institution but unfortunately the director, Dr. Bateson had
passed away the previous year. Still there were W.C.F.Newton, C.
Darlington and other young researchers with whom I exchanged views.
One of the highlights of the brief encounter which brightens my memory
even to this day was in a remark made by young Newton who upon
examining my slides of the PMC of the Rumex, exclaimed "I say, it would
be impossible to make a better preparation than these here!"
We were to hear more of Dr. Darlington later for his achievements
in his field on chromosome studies and even today he remains an active
figure. Newton also was an outstanding and promising researcher but
that career was cut short by his early death. A.E.Watkins who was then
also in wheat research made a special trip to the Institute in order to see
me.
Time went too quickly as we conversed but we were able to profit
from each other's ideas. In New York, it was my good fortune to meet
with the great scholars T.H.Morgan and E.Wilson at Columbia Uni-
versity before I boarded a train for Chicago. After a brief stay, my next
stop was San Francisco where I caught a ship sailing for Japan. Aboard
ship, I made the acquaintance of Professor G. Krauss of the University of
Hawaii and his delightful family. This chance meeting has developed into
a friendship that has lasted to this day.
The most active years of my life spanned twenty eight years from 1927
to 1955 in Kyoto. Even the memories have a special vigor of their own.
Many gifted colleagues in research as well as numerous outstanding
students were to form a lively circle of associates and friends. This period
deserves to be remembered, so I have taken the liberty of sketching out the
ebb and flow of my life in those years.
As I have mentioned already, during my early teaching at Kyoto Uni-
versity from 1920 to 1925 I held a position in the botany department of
the faculty of Science. However in 1927 I moved to the Agricultural De-
partment to take the chair of genetics and to begin my studies on wheat.
The year 1943 brought changes. Three acres of land in Mozume
xiv INTRODUCTION
on the outskirts of Kyoto was purchased for use in our experimental work
and the Kihara Institute for Biological Research was established as a
non-profit corporation. These three acres and a small piece of land of the
botanical garden of the Kyoto University comprised the sites for some
thirty years and set the stage for our non-ending search for the secrets
held in the nuclei of wheat.
The Second World War created for Japan dire hardships and many
of the difficulties and shortages affected our work. All the while, the years
were passing quickly and I was approaching the age of retirement.
The last year, 1955, was to be crowned by a most exciting and
challenging expedition. In that year, Kyoto University organized and
sponsored the Kyoto University Scientific Expedition to the Karakoram
and Hidukush. During the four months, we travelled through Afghanistan
and Iran, and we were able to collect wheat and Aegilops for our studies.
We were to learn that Aegilops squarrosa, an ancestor of bread wheat
grew together with the wheat in the fields. Although the Aegilops
squarrosa was regarded as a weed rather than a domesticated grain, it was
harvested and stored along with the wheat in the farmers' store-
houses. This observation opened our eyes to the possibility that if Aegilops
squarrosa (2x) grew as a weed in an emmer (4χ) wheat field, the two dif-
ferent grains might very well produce a hybrid (3x) and in the next genera-
tion join to generate the bread wheat 6χ.
Another happy result of this expedition was the motion picture of
"Karakoram" taken by the two cameramen. The year after our return,
the film was shown throughout Japan, won wide acclaim and aroused
new interest in the Silk Road and surrounding areas.
My group, made up of two colleagues in botanical studies, Pro-
fessors Shiro Kitamura and Kosuke Yamashita, and the anthropologists
Professor Shinobu Iwamura, Dr. Takashi Okazaki and Dr. Tadashi
Yamazaki, travelled through Afghanistan and Iran. Another party con-
sisting of Dr. Kinji Imanishi (leader), Professor Susumu Matsushita, Dr.
Kazuo Fujita, Dr. Naohiko Harada and Dr. Sasuke Nakao ventured
into the glacial area in the Karakoram Mountain Ranges.
The experiences and observations made during the challenging
journeys were to beat a rich harvest. More than six thousand pages of
reports, photographs and illustrations were published in eight impressive
volumes.
As I cannot here describe all of the experiences of this expedi-
tion, I shall relate a few happenings. One party of the Karakoram team
had visited Hunza, a small kingdom which is known as 'Healthy Hunza'.
Introduction xv
Dr. Harada found all possible diseases in this country and reported as
follows:
"It is wrong to say, at least at the present, that Hunza area is healthy.
The people of Hunza area are suffering from various diseases and are
left without protection. It is necessary to establish immediately a
health center in the area to take care of their health".
The anthoropologists headed by Professor Iwamura penetrated the
remote region of Afghanistan and came upon a village where its people
spoke the Mongolian language of the thirteenth century. One opinion of-
fered was that these people might be the descendants of Genghis Khan's
army.
Another notable report from our groups which travelled to Iran and
Afghanistan is the discovery of a cultivated melon measuring more than
one meter in length. Also in Afghanistan a "seedless (or stoneless)"
pomegranate was obtained. The rich collection of agricultural materials
like barley, oats, maize, etc. was investigated with the collaboration
of many specialists.
The motivation for such exploration and travel can be traced back
to the days at the Hokkaido University when I chose skiing as my sport.
Going on to Kyoto University in 1920,1 found many promising students
in the university's Alpine Club. They joined in the change from summer to
winter mountaineering and became avid devotees of skiing. We travelled
to Niigata's snow-covered mountains to gain practice in skiing and it was
my role to be their instructor. These students of the Alpine Club were in
later years to go on explorations to the Hakutosan in Korea, Koanrei
in Manchuria and deserts in Inner Mongolia. They had planned to climb
K , but, with the worsening turn in the international situation, they
2
abandoned the idea.
The post-war years, however, afforded them favorable conditions
again and they climbed Mt. Manasulu in Nepal (1956), a peak towering
8000 meters above sea level. The Japan Alpine Society has been given credit
for sponsoring this historic event but in fact, the principal members of the
group were from the Alpine Club of Kyoto University.
The then youthful climbers of the Kyoto University Alpine Club
today occupy positions of prestige. To name a few, they are: Eizaburo
Nishibori, President of the Japan Alpine Society; Dr. Takeo Kuwahara,
Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University; Kinji Imanishi, Professor Emeritus,
Kyoto University and Gifu University; Tadao Umesao, Director, Osaka
Museum of Natural History; Dr. Sasuke Nakao, Professor Emeritus,
xvi INTRODUCTION
Osaka Prefecture University etc. Enjoying the company of such intrepid
and illustrious men led to my being called an explorer and an alpinist.
Once while on my way to Taiwan, I met with a newspaperman,
who asked me the name of the mountain that I would presumably be
climbing. The answer was that this time my mission was not connected
with any mountains. In his article he described me as "an alpinist who
does not climb mountains".
In keeping with the biographical character of this publication I
shall give a little space to my activities in skiing which has always been a
favorite sport which I have enjoyed from my early student days.
In 1926 while I was still in Germany, the Federatïo Internationale de
Ski (FIS) held a meeting in Lahti, Finland. I was asked to represent Japan
and it was from that event that Japan became a member of the FIS.
Through such connections, I was chosen to be the president of the Ski
Association of Japan and then later its honorary president. Twice at the
Olympic Winter Games, at Squaw Valley in 1960 and at Innsbruck in 1964,
it was my honor to head the Japanese team.
It was one journalist's pleasure to report that Kihara is a man with
three faces. One, he said, is the visage of a scholar, a researcher intent on
the study of the origins and the complex nature of wheat. Next is the face
of an explorer who draws up and carries out plans for expeditions and the
third countenance reveals a sportman who heads the team of the young
Olympic participants from Japan.
At this point I feel that I should return to the major field of my
endeavors. Following the completion of the Karakoram and Hindukush
scientific expedition in 1955, I received an appointment to the post of
director of the National Institute of Genetics in Mishima and with this
new assignment, my thirty-four year career in Kyoto was brought to an
end.
Although I bore the impressive title of Director at Mishima, I worked
with my staff as one of the "fellows" and continued to do so until 1970.
By happy circumstance, scientists such as the multilingual Dr.
Lilienfeld (1888-1979), the talented administrator Dr. S. Matsumura
(1901-1960) and two younger workers Drs. K. Tsunewaki and Y. Saka-
moto became collaborators in the laboratory. Many contributions in the
field of genetics developed from this association. Among them the studies
on a large scale on the nature of the cytoplasm which were initiated then
continue to this day and have developed into the study of the nucleo-
cytoplasmic (NC) hybrid. The research initiated here, I am sure, will
continue for many years to come.
A special note should be made of events that occurred while I was at