Centaurea L. (Asteraceae) is one of the largest genera in Turkey. The chromosome number and morphology of 8 taxa belonging to the genus Centaurea were investigated using an image analysis system. | Research Article Turk J Bot 33 (2009) 97-104 © TÜBİTAK doi: Karyomorphological Study of Eight Centaurea L. Taxa (Asteraceae) from Turkey Esra MARTİN1,*, Muhittin DİNÇ2, Ahmet DURAN2 1 Niğde University, Science and Arts Faculty, Department of Biology, 51100, Campus, Niğde - TURKEY 2 Selçuk University, Education Faculty, Department of Biology Education, 42090, Meram, Konya - TURKEY Received: Accepted: Abstract: Centaurea L. (Asteraceae) is one of the largest genera in Turkey. The chromosome number and morphology of 8 taxa belonging to the genus Centaurea were investigated using an image analysis system. Among these taxa, the chromosome numbers were as follows: 2n = 18 in C. cariensis Boiss. subsp. niveotomentosa (.) Wagenitz, C. lycaonica Boiss. & Heldr., C. virgata Lam., and C. polyclada DC.; 2n = 24 in C. cyanus L.; 2n = 36 in C. virgata and C. cariensis Boiss. subsp. cariensis: 2n = 40 in C. urvillei DC. subsp. urvillei; 2n = 54 in C. tuzgoluensis Aytaç & . In 5 taxa mixoploidy was observed (C. lycaonica, C. urvillei subsp. urvillei, C. cariensis subsp. cariensis, C. virgata, and C. tuzgoluensis). Based on karyotypic data for this genus, 3 basic chromosome numbers in Centaurea taxa were observed (x = 9, 10, and 12). Furthermore, ideograms are given for all the Centaurea taxa studied. Key Words: Image analysis system, Centaurea, Compositae, karyotype, Turkey Türkiye’den Sekiz Centaurea L. (Asteraceae) Taksonu Üzerinde Karyomorfolojik Çalışmalar Özet: Centaurea L. (Asteraceae) Türkiye’nin en büyük cinslerinden birisidir. Centaurea cinsine ait sekiz taksonun kromozom sayısı ve morfolojisi Görüntü Analiz Sistemi kullanılarak incelendi. Çalışılan sekiz taksonda kromozom sayıları C. cariensis Boiss. subsp. niveotomentosa (.) Wagenitz, C. lycaonica Boiss. & Heldr., C. virgata Lam. ve C. polyclada DC.’da 2n = 18, C. cyanus L.’da 2n = 24, C. virgata ve C. cariensis subsp. cariensis’de 2n = 36, C. .
