The frequency and meiotic behaviour of structural chromosome variants in natural populations of allium schoenoprasum l. (wild chives) in europe

ABSTRACT Meiotic analysis of 1017 plants of _Allium schoenoprasum_, sampled as adults from 18 natural populations in Britain and continental Europe, revealed that 35 (3.4 per cent) were

heterozygous for one or more major structural chromosome mutations. Nineteen different interchanges, 11 different inversions, one deletion, and one supernumerary chromosome segment were

found. There was no significant difference between British and continental European populations in the frequency of chromosomal variants. There was considerable variation in meiotic

behaviour between different interchanges. On average, quadrivalent formation occurred in 68 per cent meiocytes, but the range (from 13 to 95 per cent) was wide. In five interchange

heterozygotes, chiasma formation in the interstitial segments occurred in a high proportion of multivalents. In three interchange heterozygotes, a significant excess of chain quadrivalents

were in alternate orientation. In the inversion heterozygotes, the frequency of reverse loop chiasma formation was relatively low, occurring, on average, in 6 per cent meiocytes (with a

range from 3 to 13 per cent). The pollen and ovule fertilities of inversion heterozygotes were little affected, but those of many interchange heterozygotes were significantly depressed. The

distribution of structural chromosome mutations throughout the genome was not random. A disproportionately high frequency involved the acrocentric, nucleolar-organizer chromosome pair.

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Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful to Professor H. Rees, Dr D. S. Holmes and Mr J. Evans for their valuable discussion, to Dr D. P. Stevens for assistance with the

population sampling and for critical comments on the manuscript, and to Mr C. Abbott and Mr K. Partridge for help with maintaining the plants. JPS gratefully acknowledges the financial

assistance of the SERC. AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * J P Stevens Present address: Hilbre, Bryn Gofal, Llangristiolus, Anglesey, Gwynedd, Wales, LL62 5PR AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS *

Department of Biology, University of York, York, YO1 5DD, UK J P Stevens & S M Bougourd Authors * J P Stevens View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar * S M Bougourd View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS

ARTICLE Stevens, J., Bougourd, S. The frequency and meiotic behaviour of structural chromosome variants in natural populations of _Allium schoenoprasum_ L. (wild chives) in Europe.

_Heredity_ 66, 391–401 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1991.49 Download citation * Received: 16 August 1990 * Issue Date: 01 June 1991 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1991.49 SHARE

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clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * _Allium schoenoprasam_ * chromosome variants * non-random chromosome rearrangements * meiotic

analysis * population cytogenetics