Karyotype investigations in mongolian agropyron cristatum populations ii. c band patterns
Ojunsuren, C.; Janko, B.
Acta Botanica Hungarica 31(1-4): 189-198
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0236-6495 Accession: 005777787
In four Mongolian Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn. populations-one riverside-, two medium height mountain- and one high mountain ones-we studied the intra- and interpopulation variation of the constitutive heterochromatin distribution pattern by Giemsa staining of root-tip mitoses. From the large number of the Giesma C-banding variants we have drawn the conclusion that the population examined are characterized by high karyotypic polymorphism, partly parallel with the polymorphism of chromosome number and -measurement ratio we pointed out by Feulgen staining in the same populations (OJUNSUREN and JANKO 1985). In the riverside- and high mountain tetraploid populations the number of C-bands of the somatic chromosome complement is significantly more than twice the band number charcteristic of the diploid medium height mountain populations, and in the high mountain population it is larger than in the riverside one. The relative width of band is smaller in the tetraploids than in the diploids. The correlation we found between the polymorphism of the C-banding pattern of Mongolian Agropyran cristatum populations and the height above sea level of the growing size agrees with what VOSA (1976) observed in populations of Allium pulchellum and KENTON (1976) in those of Mexican Gibasis species. From our data we may draw the conclusion that the polymorphism of heterochromatin distribution in the Agropyron cristatum populations-just like the separation of diploid and tetraploid populations by differences in height above sea level and microclimate, as reported in our previous publication-can be traced back to the action of evolution genetic and ecologico-genetic mechanisms and to flora history and vegetation history relations.