C-banded karyotypes of Brassica campestris, B. oleracea, and B. napus

Abstract

The chromosome complements of three Brassica species, namely B. campestris (2n = 20), B. oleracea (2n = 18), and B. napus (2n = 38), were studied using the air-dry method and C-banding. Karyotypes and ideograms of late prophase chromosomes were constructed, since contracted metaphase chromosomes were generally not suitable for this purpose. The three species generally had a similar banding pattern, manifested in the presence of a centromeric C-band in all chromosomes and heterochromatic knobs at the telomeric end of some chromosomes. The centromeric C-bands were more pronounced in B. campestris than in B. oleracea. Depending on the centromeric position, the chromosomes were grouped into median, submedian, subterminal, and terminal types. All chromosome pairs were morphologically distinguishable. Only one nucleolar chromosome pair, with heterochromatic satellites, was observed in each species. When compared, it was possible to distinguish chromosomes of both B. campestris and B. oleracea type in B. napus, but conclusive evidence as to the origin of all chromosome pairs in B. napus was not at hand.Key words: Brassica, chromosomes, late prophase, C-bands, knob structures, karyotypes, idiograms.