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Evidence of functional unreduced gametes in Trifolium repens L.

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Abstract

The current research reports the first evidence of functional 2n gametes in megaspores of Trifolium repens L. Reciprocal backcrossing of a colchicine doubled hexaploid (2n = 6x = 48) T. repens × T. nigrescens (6x H-6909-5) F1 hybrid to T. repens produced four seeds from 1700 pollinations. The backcross involving 6x H-6909-5 as the female parent and T. repens as the male resulted in only one seed which was, as expected, a pentaploid (2n = 5x = 40) presumably carrying four genomes of T. repens and one genome of T. nigrescens. On the other hand, those backcrosses which utilised T. repens as the female parent and 6x H-6909-5 as the male parent, resulted in 3 viable seeds. These were unexpectedly all heptaploid (2n = 7x = 56) with presumably six genomes of T. repens and one genome of T. nigrescens. The occurrence of heptaploids from a T. repens × 6x H-6909-5 (4x–6x) cross can only be explained by the union of n (= 3x = 24) pollen from 6x H-6909-5 with 2n (= 4x = 32) eggs from T. repens.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AgResearch Grasslands, Private Bag 11008, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    S.W. Hussain & W.M. Williams

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  1. S.W. Hussain
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  2. W.M. Williams
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Hussain, S., Williams, W. Evidence of functional unreduced gametes in Trifolium repens L.. Euphytica 97, 21–24 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003002805922

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