Ploidy level of the representatives of Chenopodiaceae based on genome size and chromosome numbers

Abstract

The article presents the results of measuring the genome size (DNA content in nuclei) by flow cytometry and determining the ploidy level for 30 species of the Chenopodiaceae family in 50 natural populations from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and South Korea. Genome size of 12 species was determined for the first time; they are: Atriplex patens, A. pedunculata, A. sibirica, A. verrucifera, Axyris amaranthoides, Camphorosma songorica, Ceratocarpus arenarius, Chenopodium vachellii, Corispermum declinatum, Oxybasis gubanovii, Salsola collina, Spirobassia hirsuta. Along with flow cytometric analysis, ploidy level of 13 species (Atriplex patens, A. prostrata, Bassia prostrata, Chenopodium album, C. betaceum, C. frutescens, C. karoi, C. luteorubrum, C. novopokrovskianum, C. strictum s. l., C. vachellii, Krascheninnikovia ceratoides, and Oxybasis gubanovii) from 23 populations was determined by direct chromosome counting. Genome size of 11 species was studied in two or more populations. It was shown that differences in the genome size of samples in populations from different part of the area did not exceed 5 % in diploids (Atriplex sagittata, A. sibirica) and tetraploids (Atriplex patens, Chenopodium album, C. betaceum, C. novopokrovskianum, C. strictum and Krascheninnikovia ceratoides). Two cytotypes were identified in Bassia prostrata: diploid in the Republic of Altai and tetraploid in Novosibirsk Region. A tetraploid cytotype of Chenopodium sosnovskyi was revealed in Armenia. It was shown that the genome size can be a reliable criterion to determine the ploidy level in related taxa of the Chenopodiaceae.

Keywords

• cytotype
• dna content in nuclei
• flow cytometry
• karyology
• polyploidy