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The B-chromosome system of Hypochoeris maculata

1. B-distribution, meiotic behaviour and inheritance

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Abstract

Populations of Hypochoeris maculata (Compositae) over a wide area of Europe contain a small proportion of individuals with mitoticallystable B-chromosomes. The telocentric Bs are about one sixth the length of the smallest A-chromosome and are heterochromatic. Offspring grown from seeds of natural populations have one or at most two B-chromosomes although plants with up to five Bs have been produced in experiment. The Bs rarely pair during meiotic prophase and the univalents usually undergo centric division at anaphase I. Despite lagging, the Bs are rarely lost during male meiosis. The inheritance of the B-chromosomes differs between the two sides with accumulation in the egg and random inheritance or loss on the pollen side. Although meiotic drive may play some part in the maintenance of the B-polymorphism there is a strict upper limit on the number of Bs in natural populations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biology and Microbiology, Queen Mary College, Mile End Road, E1 4NS, London, Great Britain

    J. S. Parker

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  1. J. S. Parker
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Parker, J.S. The B-chromosome system of Hypochoeris maculata . Chromosoma 59, 167–177 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328485

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328485

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