Abstract
Chromosome numbers and fertility studies of 73 male and 30 female flowering germplasm accessions of Dioscorea alata L. were carried out. All males were tetraploids showing the same chromosome number (n=20 or 2n=40) and were pollen fertile (10.9–96.2%), most of them being highly fertile. Among the female the majority were higher ploids (hexa-and octoploids; 2n=60 and 80) and sexually completely sterile. There were only two tetraploid female accessions which were sexually fertile. Pollination studies revealed that seed sterility in D. alata was due to female sterility associated with the occurrence of higher levels of ploidy. The female sex-limited occurrence of higher polyploidy and sterility observed in D. alata is a curious situation among dioecious higher plants.
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Abraham, K., Gopinathan Nair, P. Polyploidy and sterility in relation to sex in Dioscorea alata L. (Dioscoreaceae). Genetica 83, 93–97 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00058525
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00058525