Cytogenetics and Plant Evolution

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 11990

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
Interests: plant cytogenetics; plant evolution; molecular cytogenetics; polyploidy; meiotic mutants; biodiversity
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The discovery of chromosomes about 150 years ago attracted the attention of biologists, who began an intense research activity with the aim of understanding the function of these structures in the reproduction and inheritance of living organisms. This scientific fervor gave origin to a new science: cytogenetics, the science of chromosomes. Over a few decades the field of cytogenetics became ample and diversified for the aspects regarding the chromosome and the species investigated. A relevant part of this research was addressed to plants. The plant kingdom exhibits an extraordinary variety of chromosome complements which differ in number and morphology. This observation led to the consideration of the chromosome as one of the principle factors of plant evolution and diversification. The binomial cytogenetics-plant evolution became ever more convincing, receiving new impulse from the development of the molecular cytogenetic techniques based on in situ hybridization such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and its variants. The availability of these techniques for chromosome and genome analysis favored great advantages in the study of evolutionary processes, phylogenetic relationships, and the mechanisms of speciation in plants. A further benefit of the introduction of these new tools is the increased number of investigated species. With the application of FISH, many obstacles connected to the small size and uniformity of chromosomes were overcome. This led to a marked advancement in studies of many species having this type of chromosome, not only for physical mapping for chromosome identification, but also as an efficient means for evolutionary studies. However there still remain many taxa which are scarcely known or even unknown from the cytogenetic point of view. Considering all this, this Special Issue in Plants entitled “Cytogenetics and Plant Evolution” has been conceived to promote the study and the knowledge of species and groups of species that have until now overlooked by cytogeneticists. It is our conviction that the more we know about the chromosome constitution of species the better we can understand the mechanisms operating in plant evolution.
For realizing this goal, we encourage the submission of original research on the following categories of plant species:
Fruit tree species: minor fruit tree species, minor crop species, neglected and underutilized species, and wild species of the Mediterranean biome.
Papers covering the following topics would be especially welcome:
Comparative cytogenetic mapping; Karyotype and genome evolution; Polyploidy and dysploidy; and Meiotic alterations.
Additionally, original articles regarding chromosome structure and karyotype analysis would be appreciated if the study comprises a broader evolutionary context rather than a report on a single species.

Dr. Egizia Falistocco
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Comparative cytogenetic mapping
  • Karyotype and genome evolution
  • Polyploidy and dysploidy
  • meiotic alterations

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 5848 KiB  
Article
Molecular Cytogenetics of Eurasian Species of the Genus Hedysarum L. (Fabaceae)
by Olga Yu. Yurkevich, Tatiana E. Samatadze, Inessa Yu. Selyutina, Svetlana I. Romashkina, Svyatoslav A. Zoshchuk, Alexandra V. Amosova and Olga V. Muravenko
Plants 2021, 10(1), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10010089 - 4 Jan 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2782
Abstract
The systematic knowledge on the genus Hedysarum L. (Fabaceae: Hedysareae) is still incomplete. The species from the section Hedysarum are valuable forage and medicinal resources. For eight Hedysarum species, we constructed the integrated schematic map of their distribution within Eurasia based on currently [...] Read more.
The systematic knowledge on the genus Hedysarum L. (Fabaceae: Hedysareae) is still incomplete. The species from the section Hedysarum are valuable forage and medicinal resources. For eight Hedysarum species, we constructed the integrated schematic map of their distribution within Eurasia based on currently available scattered data. For the first time, we performed cytogenomic characterization of twenty accessions covering eight species for evaluating genomic diversity and relationships within the section Hedysarum. Based on the intra- and interspecific variability of chromosomes bearing 45S and 5S rDNA clusters, four main karyotype groups were detected in the studied accessions: (1) H.arcticum, H. austrosibiricum, H. flavescens, H. hedysaroides, and H. theinum (one chromosome pair with 45S rDNA and one pair bearing 5S rDNA); (2) H. alpinum and one accession of H. hedysaroides (one chromosome pair with 45S rDNA and two pairs bearing 5S rDNA); (3) H. caucasicum (one chromosome pair with 45S rDNA and one chromosome pair bearing 5S rDNA and 45S rDNA); (4) H. neglectum (two pairs with 45S rDNA and one pair bearing 5S rDNA). The species-specific chromosomal markers detected in karyotypes of H. alpinum, H. caucasicum, and H. neglectum can be useful in taxonomic studies of this section. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cytogenetics and Plant Evolution)
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17 pages, 2509 KiB  
Article
Agro-Morphological, Microanatomical and Molecular Cytogenetic Characterization of the Medicinal Plant Chelidonium majus L.
by Tatiana E. Samatadze, Olga Y. Yurkevich, Firdaus M. Hazieva, Elena A. Konyaeva, Alexander I. Morozov, Svyatoslav A. Zoshchuk, Alexandra V. Amosova and Olga V. Muravenko
Plants 2020, 9(10), 1396; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9101396 - 20 Oct 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3451
Abstract
Chelidonium majus L. is a medicinal plant well-known as a valuable source of isoquinoline alkaloids, which has a variety of pharmacological properties including anti-viral and anti-bacterial effects. However, considerable intraspecific bio-morphological variability in C. majus complicates raw material identification and verification. For the [...] Read more.
Chelidonium majus L. is a medicinal plant well-known as a valuable source of isoquinoline alkaloids, which has a variety of pharmacological properties including anti-viral and anti-bacterial effects. However, considerable intraspecific bio-morphological variability in C. majus complicates raw material identification and verification. For the first time, we have brought into cultivation five populations of C. majus subsp. majus originated from different regions, and performed their agro-morphological, microanatomical and molecular cytogenetic characterization. All examined populations produced high seed (18.6–19.9 kg/ha) and raw material (0.84–1.08 t/ha) yields; total alkaloid contents were within 0.30–0.38%. Nevertheless, significant differences in plant morphology and yield-contributing traits were observed. The performed microanatomical analysis of leaves and flowers in double- and normal-flowered plants revealed micro-diagnostic features (including tissue topography, types of stomata, laticifers, structure of leaf mesophyll, hairs, sepals and petals) important for identification of C. majus raw materials. The analysis of chromosome morphology, DAPI-banding patterns, FISH mapping of 45S and 5S rDNA and also chromosome behavior in meiosis allowed us to identify for the first time all chromosomes in karyotypes and confirm relative genotype stability of the studied plants. Our findings indicate that the examined C. majus populations can be used in further breeding programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cytogenetics and Plant Evolution)
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12 pages, 3473 KiB  
Article
Comparative Chromosomal Localization of 45S and 5S rDNA Sites in 76 Purple-Fleshed Sweet Potato Cultivars
by Dan Su, Lei Chen, Jianying Sun, Luyue Zhang, Runfei Gao, Qiang Li, Yonghua Han and Zongyun Li
Plants 2020, 9(7), 865; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9070865 - 8 Jul 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3345
Abstract
In recent years, the purple-fleshed sweet potato has attracted more attention because of its high nutritional value. The cytogenetics of this crop is relatively unexplored, limiting our knowledge on its genetic diversity. Therefore, we conducted cytogenetic analysis of 76 purple-fleshed sweet potato cultivars [...] Read more.
In recent years, the purple-fleshed sweet potato has attracted more attention because of its high nutritional value. The cytogenetics of this crop is relatively unexplored, limiting our knowledge on its genetic diversity. Therefore, we conducted cytogenetic analysis of 76 purple-fleshed sweet potato cultivars to analyze the chromosome structure and distribution of 45S and 5S rDNA. We noted that only 62 cultivars had 90 chromosomes, and the others were aneuploid with 88, 89, 91, or 92 chromosomes. The number of 45S rDNA in the 76 cultivars varied from 16 to 21; these sites showed different signal sizes and intensities and were localized at the chromosomal termini or satellite. The number of 5S rDNA was relatively stable; 74 cultivars showed six sites located at the chromosomal sub-terminal or near the centromere. Only the ‘Quanzishu 96’ and ‘Yuzixiang 10’ showed seven and five 5S rDNA sites, respectively. Additionally, both parent cultivars of ‘Quanzishu 96’ showed 18 45S and six 5S rDNA sites. Overall, our results indicate a moderate diversity in the distribution pattern of rDNAs. Our findings provide comprehensive cytogenetic information for the identification of sweet potato chromosomes, which can be useful for developing a high-quality germplasm resource. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cytogenetics and Plant Evolution)
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