TITLE Karyomorphology of Biebersteinia Stephan (Geraniaceae) and its systematic and taxonomic significance
AUTHOR Jianquan Liu
Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Tingnong Ho
Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Shilong Chen
Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Anmin Lu
Plant Systematic and Evolutionary Laboratory, Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, China
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ABSTRACT The systematic and taxonomic position of Biebersteinia Stephan has long been in dispute. The present paper describes for the first time the karyomorphology of two species in Biebersteinia Stephan. Both species commonly showed the interphase nuclei of the simple chromocenter type and the mitotic prophase chromosomes of the interstitial type. The karyotype formulae of both B. heterostemon and B. odora were 2n=10=2m(2sec)+8sm(2sec), belonging to the 3A type of Stebbins' classification. The karyotype of this genus is recorded for the first time. The basic chromosome numbers of four of the five known species of Biebersteinia have been recorded as x=5. The combination of resting nuclei of the simple chromocenter type, mitotic prophase chromosomes of the interstitial type, two pairs of chromosomes with four obvious secondary constrictions at the mitotic prophase and metaphase stages, and the peculiar 3A karyotype in Biebersteinia can be regarded as the karymorphological marker of this genus. The karyomorphological data presented here do not support the traditional grouping of this genus in Geraniaceae. The unique karyomorphology of Biebersteinia justifies its familiar or ordinal status, which is congruent with embryological, anatomical, chemical and molecular data. The systematic position of Biebersteinia needs further study.
KEYWORD Biebersteinia; Karyomorphology; Systematics;
ARTICLE INFO Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Volume 42 Number 1 January 2001, page 61-66, 6 pages
PUBLISHER Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China