Bromus Section Ceratochloa includes temperate forage species. South American species form a morphologically very variable hexaploid complex (2n = 6x = 42), with a controversial taxonomic classification. Reproductive biology has been studied in several of them, but the number of analyzed plants has seldom been reported. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2017) 41: 127-133 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Pollen viability and meiotic abnormalities in brome grasses (Bromus L., Section Ceratochloa) from Argentina 1,2 1,2, Gabriela Agustina LEOFANTI , Elsa Lucila CAMADRO * College of Agrarian Sciences, National University of Mar del Plata-Agricultural Experimental Station “Domingo R. Pasquale”, National Institute of Agricultural Technology, Balcarce, Argentina 2 National Council of Scientific and Technical Research, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1 Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: Bromus Section Ceratochloa includes temperate forage species. South American species form a morphologically very variable hexaploid complex (2n = 6x = 42), with a controversial taxonomic classification. Reproductive biology has been studied in several of them, but the number of analyzed plants has seldom been reported. Further investigations might clarify breeding relations and the adequacy of current classifications. Pollen viability and size, which can provide evidence of spontaneous hybridization, were studied in seven accessions (six plants/accession) classified as B. catharticus var. catharticus, var. elata, and var. rupestris; B. parodii; B. bonariensis; B. lithobius; and B. coloratus. Variability was detected among accessions for average pollen viability (54%–82%) and pollen size (– n.). Meiotic analyses were performed in a sample of genotypes from five accessions with n) according to the ratio between their individual diameters and the average diameter of the sample. Pollen grains with diameter ratios below , between and 1, and above 1 were considered n, respectively. The frequency of pollen grains in each of the three categories was calculated on an individual genotype basis. . Meiotic analyses Meiotic analyses were carried out in a sample of .
