Cytogenetical analysis of Clitoria ternatea

Clitoria ternatea L. of the family Fabaceae is an economical, ornamental as well as medicinal important species. Chromosome characterization of C. ternatea, encompassing karyomorphological as well as fluorochrome binding was carried out in the present investigation. Karyomorphological studies showed the presence of 2n = 16 somatic chromosome number with three pairs of metacentric chromosomes and five pairs of submedian chromosomes. The analysis also revealed the present of one pair of nucleolar organizing region or satellite. Fluorochrome binding using chromomycin A3 (CMA) and 4-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) showed the presence of GC- and AT- rich heterochromatic region. Further analysis revealed the percentage of GC-rich was comparatively higher than AT-rich heterochromatic region. This is the first report on heterochromatin characterization in C. ternatea.