Chromosome Pairing and Unreduced Gamete Formation in Nineteen Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Cultivars

抄録

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is among important horticultural plants of Iran cultivated in several regions of the country. There is very limited cytogenetic information available for pomegranate in general. Meiotic studies were performed on 19 pomegranate cultivars of Iran considering chromosome pairing, chiasma frequency, the occurrence and effect of B-chromosomes and unreduced gamete formation. All the cultivars studied possessed 2n=2x=16 chromosome number forming mostly bivalents along with a low number of quadrivalents possibly due to the occurrence of translocations. They varied significantly in their meiotic characteristics due to their genomic differences. Some of the cultivars possessed B-chromosomes, which significantly changed their meiotic characteristics while some cultivars could produce unreduced gametes. With the use of present findings indicating genomic differences of the pomegranate cultivars studied a better hybridization and breeding program may be planned.