Structural hybridity and supernumerary chromosomes in a diploid Tradescantia hirsuticaulis

Abstract

Cytological study of a diploid (2n = 12) population of Tradescantia hirsuticaulis Small from Stone Mountain, Georgia, revealed striking variation in four plants growing in a cluster, indicating that they constitute different genotypes. The occurrence of B chromosomes, fragments, and aneusomaty in the plants is associated with structural hybridity in the chromosomes. Two plants were homozygotes with simple meiotic pairing, one was heterozygous for a reciprocal translocation, and the other was a heterozygote for two interchanges as well as for inversions. The behavior and the origin of B chromosomes, fragments, and structural hybridity are discussed.