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Speciation Polyploidy

Bio hl

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207 views

Speciation Polyploidy

Bio hl

Uploaded by

Sen dok
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Speciation and Polyploidy

Polyploidy in tissue cultures of Allium fistulosum


In an experiment to look at mechanisms of polyploidy in 2002 Andrzej JOACHIMIAK and Tomaz
ILNICKI measured the amount of nuclear DNA and the chromosome number of cells in tissue
cultures of the species Allium fistulosum (Japanese bunching onion)

The figure below shows a karyogram of the diploid chromosome number

1. Deduce the diploid chromosome number of A. fistulosum from the image fig.1 (1 mark)

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2. At what stage of mitosis was the cell cycle stopped in order to photograph the
chromosomes, explain how you know? (2 marks)

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© David Faure, InThinking http://www.thinkib.net/biology 1


The researchers grew the A. fistulosum cells from the root tips of germinating seedlings over two
years. In each of six collections (every four months) 1000 nuclei were analysed.
The graphs below show the results of three of the analyses of the nuclei.

3. Compare the number of sets of chromosome in cells of A. fistulosum from the samples taken
after 8 months and 24 months (2 marks)

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4. Evaluate the evidence that the cells of A. fistulosum undergo polyploidy while in tissue
culture (2 marks)

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5. Polyploidy is believed to have contributed to the huge variety of species in the Allium genus.
Outline how polyploidy can lead to the rapid creation of new species, especially in cultivated
varieties of plants. (2 marks)

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Polyploid types are known by the number of sets of chromosomes and a more common that
you might imagine in many agricultural species.

 triploid (three sets), for example seedless watermelons


 tetraploid (four sets), cotton Gossypium hirsutum
 hexaploid (six sets), for example wheat, and kiwifruit
 octaploid (eight sets), for example dahlias
 decaploid (ten sets), for example certain strawberries
 dodecaploid (twelve sets), the invasive plant Spartina anglica
or the amphibian Xenopus ruwenzoriensis.

6. Using the data in the graphs suggest which types of polyploid of Allium occurred in the cells
of the experiment ( 1 mark)

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The frequency distribution graphs above show chromosome numbers of many different sizes.
Many cells don’t have a simple multiples of the full chromosome set.
In their discussion the authors state,

“After two years of culture the tissue culture is composed of cells with different levels of
ploidy, but diploid and tetraploid cells are still represented in relatively high numbers.
Cells may reduce ploidy levels and produce highly heterogenous cell populations in
cultures. Indeed, Allium. fistulosum cultures consist of cells with different DNA content
and nuclei sizes. They are accompanied by numerous types of chromosome aberrations”

7. Explain how these observations of chromosome aberrations (“mutations”) could provide an


explanation for the variable amounts of DNA seen in the study. (1 mark)

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Extracts taken, and consent requested, from Joachimiak, A. and Ilnicki, T., “Nuclear morphology, polyploidy,
and chromatin elimination in tissue culture of Allium fistulosum L.,” Acta Soc. Bot. Pol., 72.11
The full paper can be accessed at
http://www.biologia.studies.uj.edu.pl/~joachimiak/WWW/Joachimiak/NuclearMorph2003.pdf

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