Morphometric traits in the fine-leaved fescues depend on ploidy level: the case of Festuca amethystina L.

PeerJ

article

Agnieszka Rewicz¹  Przemysław Piotr Tomczyk¹  Marcin Kiedrzyński¹  Katarzyna Maria Zielińska¹  Iwona Jędrzejczyk²  Monika Rewers²  Edyta Kiedrzyńska³  Tomasz Rewicz⁵ 

[1] Department of Geobotany and Plant Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz;Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Cytometry, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, UTP University of Science and Technology;Department of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz;European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences;Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz

关键词: DNA content;    Cross-sections of leaves;    Morphometric analysis;    Festuca;    Flow cytometry;    Genom size;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.5576

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPolyploid specimens are usually characterized by greater exuberance: they reach larger sizes and/or have a larger number of some organs. Festuca amethystina L. belongs to the section Aulaxyper. Based on morphological features, four subspecies of F. amethystina have been already identified. On the other hand, it has two cytotypes: diploid and tetraploid. The main aim of our study was to distinguish morphological differences between the cytotypes of F. amethystina, assuming that its phenotype differs significantly.MethodsThe nuclear DNA content was measured by flow cytometry in dry leaves from specimens originating from 13 populations of F. amethystina. Several macrometric and micrometric traits of stems, spikelets and leaf blades were taken into account in the comparative analysis of two cytotypes.ResultsIn the case of cytotypes, specimens of tetraploids were larger than diploids. The conducted morphometric analysis of leaf cross-sections showed significant differences between the cytotypes.DiscussionThe research has confirmed for the first time that in the case of F. amethystina the principle of greater exuberance of polyploids is true. Differences between the cytotypes are statistically significant, however, they are not enough to make easy the distinction of cytotypes on the basis of the measurements themselves. Our findings favor the rule known in Festuca taxonomy as a whole, i.e. that the ploidy level can be one of the main classification criteria.

【 授权许可】

CC BY