Summary
Premeiotic colchicine treatment brings about the production of one to five quadrivalents in Zea mays ssp. mays (maize, 2n=20) and an increase in the number of quadrivalents from five to ten in Zea perennis (2n=40). The results confirm the allotetraploid nature of maize and suggest that the species possesses two homoeologous genomes (A2A2 B2B2) that fail to pair, probably due to the presence of Ph-like genes. Moreover, the autoallooctoploid nature of Zea perennis, with a genome formula A′1A′1 A″1A″1 C1C1 C2C2, is supported by the present results.
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Communicated by F. Mechelke
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Poggio, L., Molina, M.C. & Naranjo, C.A. Cytogenetic studies in the genus Zea . Theoret. Appl. Genetics 79, 461–464 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00226153
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00226153