Cytological Studies on Paeonia emodi Wall. ex Royle: An Important Medicinal and Ornamental Plant of Kashmir Himalaya

Abstract

Paeonia emodi, an endangered species, was examined for pollen mother cell (PMC) meiosis from both wild and transplanted populations. Buds of suitable size were collected from all the three study sites and fixed in ethanol:acetic acid (1:3) for 24 h and stored in 70% alcohol under refrigeration. For slide preparation, the anthers were squashed in 2% acetocarmine. The results revealed the mean meiotic chromo­some configurations of the species as 2n = 10. The chromosomal abnormalities observed include chromatin stickiness, univalent formation, heterozygosity, unequal distribution of chromosomes at poles, laggards and chromatin bridges. Pollen fertility test showed that pollen fertility turned out to be 70–75%. The seed set across different sites came out to be 30–45% resulting in reduced seed set in the species. These results clearly indicate that meiotic abnormalities in turn result in the decreased seed set in the species. However, further evidence is necessary to understand extensively whether polyploidy exists widely in this species and frequent abnormalities in wild as well as transplanted populations.

Keywords: Cytology, endangered, Paeonia emodi, medicinal plant, meiosis

Cite this Article

Nazir S, Yaqoob U, Nawchoo IA et al. Cytological studies on Paeonia emodi Wall. ex Royle: An important medicinal and ornamental plant of Kashmir Himalaya. Research & Reviews: Journal of Herbal Science. 2017; 6(1): 1–4p.