KARYOTYPIC VARIATION IN FIVE SPECIES OF THE GENUS FRITILLARIA (LILIACEAE)

In this study, karyotypes of five Fritillaria species including F. avromanica, F. assyriaca, F. chlorantha, F. persica and F. raddeana belonging to three subgenera are presented. All species were diploid (2n = 2x = 24) with mean chromosome length of 15.86 µm. Four chromosome types (‘‘m’’, ‘‘sm’’, ‘‘st’’, ‘‘T’’) made five different karyotypic formula. Chromosome count of F. avromanica (2n = 2x = 24) is a new report. Analysis of variance for eight chromosomal parameters revealed inter specific chromosomal variation. Based on different karyotype asymmetry indices including TF %, CV %, A2, AI, AsK %, S%, F. assyriaca had the most asymmetrical karyotype. Based on Fluorescence in situ hybridization result, 4 and 6, 35S rDNA loci were observed for F. raddeana and F. persica respectively, which mainly located at distal or telomeric regions of chromosomes.