Tissue culture regenerated materials of Musa L. spp. (banana and plantain) along with their somaclonal variants were assessed for karyotype abnormalities to be used as indicators for rapid cytological marking. The results show that although slight variations were noted in karyomorphometric characters, like chromosome number, arm length, total chromosome length, and total chromosome volume, these were not significant (P ≤ ). | Turk J Bot 31 (2007) 143-147 © TÜB‹TAK Research Article Evaluation of Karyotype Status of Musa L. Somaclonal Variants (Musaceae: Zingiberales) 1, 2 Gordian C. OBUTE *, Philip C. AZIAGBA 1 Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, University of Port Harcourt, Choba PHC, NIGERIA 2 Library Department, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, PHC, NIGERIA Received: Accepted: Abstract: Tissue culture regenerated materials of Musa L. spp. (banana and plantain) along with their somaclonal variants were assessed for karyotype abnormalities to be used as indicators for rapid cytological marking. The results show that although slight variations were noted in karyomorphometric characters, like chromosome number, arm length, total chromosome length, and total chromosome volume, these were not significant (P ≤ ). Therefore, chromosomal abnormalities may not be accurate markers for somaclonal variation in these species. The need to not overemphasise chromosomal instability resulting from culture techniques was highlighted. Other possible causes of somaclonal variations were proposed to explain this phenomenon in Musa spp. Key Words: Tissue culture, somaclonal variants, karyotype, Musa, Zingiberales Introduction The genus Musa L. comprises members that are important as food and cash crops in the humid tropics (FAO, 1975). Its centre of origin is thought to be the Indo-Malaysian axis (Simmonds, 1960), but it has spread to most tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Plantains and bananas (Musa spp.) have become the subjects of intense improvement programmes in which modern biotechnological methods have played significant roles. Some of these techniques, however, have been reported to predispose plant materials to chromosomal instability. This does not preclude the genomic instability that ordinarily arises due to cryptic chromosomal rearrangements, somatic crossing over with sister chromatid exchanges, transposable elements, and .
