Karyological studies in ten species of Citrus (Linnaeus, 1753) (Rutaceae) of North-East India

Abstract

Ten Citrus (Linnaeus, 1753) species of North-East India have been karyo-morphologically analysed. All studied species had 2n=18 chromosomes without any evidence of numerical variation. All the chromosomes were found to be of metacentric and sub-metacentric in all the species; the morphology of the chromosomes showing size difference only. Symmetrical karyotype which does not have much difference in the ratio of longest to shortest chromosome in all the species was observed. Three species, C. grandis (Osbeck, 1757), C. reticulata (Blanco, 1837) and C. medica (Linnaeus, 1753) are identified as true basic species from asymmetry studies of karyotypes as they reflect on the primitive nature of their genomes. C. indica (Tanaka, 1937) occupies a special taxonomic position within the genus Citrus as a progenitor for other cultivated species