CHROMOSOMES OF TWO OLYRA L. SPECIES FROM MISIONES, ARGENTINA (POACEAE, BAMBUSOIDEAE, OLYREAE)

Abstract

The subfamily Bambusoideae comprises three monophyletic tribes, Arundinarieae, Bambuseae and Olyreae. Here we report the gametic number and the chromosomal meiotic behavior of two species belonging to the herbaceous tribe Olyreae, Olyra latifolia and Olyra humilis. Accessions were collected in Misiones, at Northeastern Argentina. We report a new gametic number for O. humilis, n=18, and we confirmed n=11 for O. latifolia. Chromosomal features, like the basic and gametic chromosome number, are important in understanding the evolution of the Poaceae family, especially in delimiting clades and elucidate inter and intra-clades relationships, and therefore it is necessary to continue producing this type of data. Key words: bamboos, cytogenetics, meiosis, ploidy, Poaceae