Abstract
Male and female meiosis has been studied together for the first time in Nicotiana tabacum (2n=48) collected from 2 populations. Meiotic studies revealed differences in the behavior of chromosomes in the 2 sex cells i.e. pollen mother cells (PMCs) and embryo sac mother cells (EMCs) particularly with respect to frequency of chiasmata. Male sex cells (PMCs) showed a higher chiasmata frequency than female sex cells (EMCs) which show 14.33 and 11.48% reduction in chiasmata frequency in the 2 populations. The practical importance of female meiotic studies is discussed.
