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Does chromosome number count? Mapping karyological knowledge on Italian flora in a phylogenetic framework

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Abstract

Italian vascular flora is highly representative of the Euro-Mediterranean area, because the region includes high mountain territories, temperate areas, and regions dominated by the Mediterranean climate. Chromosome number information about the Italian flora stored in the online database Chrobase.it includes 6,756 records, referable to 3,539 cytotypes and 2,785 accepted species and subspecies (approx. 35% of the national flora). Appropriate queries to Chrobase.it enabled us to map chromosome numbers, at order rank, in a robust phylogenetic framework, derived from APGIII and other recent phylogenetic studies on vascular plants. Similar work was conducted for selected families and genera. Chromosome number data were available for 41 out of 80 vascular plant orders (51%) currently recognized world-wide and 107 out of 428 families (25%), represented by 661 genera (4.5%). The large number of records enabled us to compute the mean chromosome number for each taxon, and to highlight significant differences among all orders and among subsets of families and genera. For each taxon, we analysed the variability in chromosome number by use of common statistical methods, and computed the frequency of chromosome numbers, the coefficient of variation of chromosome number (CVCN), the frequency of B-chromosomes (fB), and that of odd chromosome numbers (fOCN). The phylogenetic relevance of our results is discussed and the usefulness of basic karyological data, often neglected in current phylogenetic studies, is stressed.

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Acknowledgments

This paper was presented for the first time as a lecture during the symposium “Chromosomal studies in plants and animals: still a significant approach in the elucidation of phylogenetic and taxonomical problems?”, in the context of the international congress “Biosystematics”, held in Berlin from 21 to 27 February 2011. Financial funding (EX60%) from University of Pisa is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Unit of General and Systematic Botany, Pisa University, Via L. Ghini 5, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    Gianni Bedini, Fabio Garbari & Lorenzo Peruzzi

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  1. Gianni Bedini
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  2. Fabio Garbari
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  3. Lorenzo Peruzzi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lorenzo Peruzzi.

Appendix

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See Table 5.

Table 5 Chromosome number variation among families of the Italian vascular flora
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Bedini, G., Garbari, F. & Peruzzi, L. Does chromosome number count? Mapping karyological knowledge on Italian flora in a phylogenetic framework. Plant Syst Evol 298, 739–750 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0585-1

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