Chromosome Numbers in Brazilian and Argentine Populations of Pfaffia glomerata (Amaranthaceae)

Abstract

Summary Somatic chromosome numbers were determined in 10 populations of Pfaffia glomerata, also known as "Brazilian ginseng", collected from different regions of Brazil and Argentina. Nine populations showed 2nϭ34 and one 2nϭ32, 33. Although chromosomes were very small, a pair of satellited chromosomes per karyotype was reported in almost all the populations. Chromosomes were predominantly metacentric and submetacentric. Meristematic interphase nuclei showed areticulate chromatin structure. Prophase chromosomes had deeply stained proximal blocks of condensed chromatin. This is the first cytological report including chromosome counting for the genus Pfaffia, a genus of the Amaranthaceae family with several species of economic importance due to their high content of ecdysteroid glycosides. The latter is a substance similar to that found in the genus Panax, "the Korean ginseng", widely used as medicine.

Plant Polyploidy: Origin, Induction, Phenotypic Change Mechanisms, Population Establishment, and Distribution

“…Arabidopsis thaliana Parallel Spindle 1 (AtPS1) mutant makes the spindle orientation abnormal (d'Erfurth, et al 2008), and the appearance of the parallel spindle, tripolar spindle, fusion spindle, sequential spindle, and lack of spindle can also lead to polyploidy generation (Mok and Peloquin 1975;F. and D. 1995;Taschetto and Pagliarini 2003;Dewitte, et al 2010). Plants with an odd number of chromosome groups, such as triploids, undergo irregular pairing during meiosis, leading to the formation of unreduced gametes (d'Erfurth, et al 2009).…”