Cytomorphological studies in some members of tribe Paniceae (Poaceae) from district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh (Western Himalayas)

Kaur H., Kumari S., Gupta R.C.

The present paper deals with cytological studies on the population basis of 21 species belonging to 9 genera of tribe Paniceae of family Poaceae from cytologically unexplored area of Western Himalayas i.e. district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh for the assessment of genetic diversity of grass flora. On world­wide basis, the chromosome counts have been made for the first time for three species such as Brachiaria remota (n = 16), Digitaria granularis (n = 36) and Isachne albens (n = = 5). Similarly, on India basis, altogether new records are made for two species such as Echinochloa crus­pavonis (n = 27) and Paspalum distichum (2n = 50). A comparison of the different euploid cytotypes studied at present for Digitaria adscendens, D. setigera and Oplismenus compositus revealed significant variations in their morphology, depicting increase in some of the characters of polyploid cytotypes. The course of meiosis has been observed to be normal in all the studied populations with high pollen fertility except for two species such as Paspalum dilatatum and P. distichum marked with abnormal meiosis and reduced pollen fertility.

Key words: Chromosome count, district Kangra, euploid, meiotic course, Paniceae

Tsitologiya i Genetika 2013, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 40-55

Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala, 147 002 India

E-mail: harpreetsidhu75 gmail.com

Kaur H., Kumari S., Gupta R.C. Cytomorphological studies in some members of tribe Paniceae (Poaceae) from district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh (Western Himalayas), Tsitol Genet., 2013, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 40-55.

In "Cytology and Genetics":
H. Kaur, S. Kumari, R. C. Gupta Cytomorphological studies in some members of tribe Paniceae (Poaceae) from district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh (Western Himalayas), Cytol Genet., 2013, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 93-106
DOI: 10.3103/S0095452713020060