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Cytogeography of Cenchrus ciliaris (Poaceae) in Tunisia

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Abstract

Belonging to the genus Cenchrus with 16–22 species, Cenchrus ciliaris L. (syn. Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link, buffelgrass) is a perennial, common in warmer regions of both hemispheres, growing as a C4 grass in a wide range of habitats. In the present study we determined chromosome number and nuclear DNA content (2C DNA) for 28 natural populations collected from northern to southern Tunisia. Three ploidy levels were found: one tetraploid population (2n = 4x = 36), three pentaploid (2n = 5x = 45), and 24 hexaploid populations (2n = 6x = 54). The hexaploid chromosome number has already been reported for Tunisian populations of C. ciliaris but tetraploid and pentaploid (2n = 45) are new for this area. The tetraploid population was found in the semi-arid north; pentaploids were mostly on the northern side of the arid region, while the hexaploids were located mainly in the arid southern Tunisian and Saharan region. 2C DNA values, assessed using flow cytometry, correlated with chromosome counts. Nuclear DNA content ranged from 2C = 3.03 to 4.61 pg, revealing three ploidy levels corresponding to 4x, 5x, 6x, and mean 2C DNA amounts were of 3.03, 3.7 and 4.48 pg, respectively. Each cytotype produced viable pollen. Flow cytometric seed screening neither proved nor disproved apomixis. The most frequent hexaploid populations seem best adapted to arid conditions in southern Tunisia. The monoploid value, 1Cx, was constant. The existence of pentaploid cytotype suggests hybridization ability between tetraploids and hexaploids. It appears that polyploidization is the major evolutionary mechanism in the speciation of C. ciliaris.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge M. Bourge, O. Catrice and N. Maunoury for their technical support at the Imagif and IFR87/IBiSA cytometry facility and F. Pustahija and O. Robin for their assistance in cytogenetics. The authors are also indebted to the Ministry of Education and Science of Tunisia, CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and Comité Mixte de Coopération Universitaire France-Tunisie (CMCU, project n° 09 G 0901) for their funding of this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Unité de recherche: Diversité végétale et écosystèmes en milieu aride (UR11ES71), Département de biologie, Route de Soukra, Km 3.5, BP 1171, 3000, Gouvernorat de Sfax, Tunisie

    Amina Kharrat-Souissi & Mohamed Chaieb

  2. Univ. Paris-Sud, AgroParisTech, UMR 8079, Ecologie, Systématique, Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, Bâtiment 360, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France

    Sonja Siljak-Yakovlev

  3. Compartimentation Cellulaire, Institut des Sciences du Végétal, CNRS UPR2355, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Spencer C. Brown

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  1. Amina Kharrat-Souissi
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Correspondence to Amina Kharrat-Souissi.

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Kharrat-Souissi, A., Siljak-Yakovlev, S., Brown, S.C. et al. Cytogeography of Cenchrus ciliaris (Poaceae) in Tunisia. Folia Geobot 48, 95–113 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-012-9137-x

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