Abstract
We report results of karyotype analyses using nine species of Maianthemum from China. The species, except M. atropurpureum (with 2n=72), had 2n=36, and the results support the earlier suggestion that Maianthemum has x=18 with 2n=36 in most species. The species examined, however, showed marked differences in karyotype, particularly in the numbers of metacentric, submetacentric, and acrocentric chromosomes as well as in the number of satellites. In addition, we distinguished three different modes based on the number of clear gaps in chromosome length variation: unimodal, bimodal, and trimodal. The unimodal variation (with no gap) was found in M. dahuricum and M. atropurpureum, the bimodal variation (with one gap) in M. tatsienense, and the trimodal variation (with two gaps) in M. bifolium, M. forrestii, M. japonicum, M. henryi, M. purpureum, and M. lichiangense. In the trimodal variation, the positions of the two gaps may differ from species to species. In addition, the frequency of acrocentric chromosomes per complement was generally higher in the trimodal variation than in the unimodal and bimodal variations. Results of our analyses, which had not been clearly presented prior to this, may provide a better understanding of species evolution in the tribe Polygonatae.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Profs. Li Heng and Kazuo Oginuma for their assistance in completing the study. The study was partly supported by grants from Chinese Natural and Science Foundation (CNSF 40332021 to H. Sun and 30300023 to Z.-L. Nie), and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-SW-009 to Y. P. Yang).
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Meng, Y., Nie, ZL., Yang, YP. et al. Karyomorphology of Maianthemum sensu lato (Polygonatae, Ruscaceae). J Plant Res 118, 155–162 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-005-0205-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-005-0205-7