Frontiers of Agriculture and Food Technology

Frontiers of Agriculture and Food Technology ISSN 2736-1624 Vol. 10 (5), pp. 001-004, May, 2020. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Chromosome number and cytomorphological characterization of a polyploid Abrus

Ikechukwu O. Agbagwa* and ’Bosa E. Okoli

Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.

Accepted 16 March, 2020

Abstract

Chromosome counts from natural populations of Abrus pulchellus in Nigeria were carried out. Tetraploid (2n = 44) chromosome number was constant in all the samples investigated. The 44 chromosomes fall into three cytomorphological categories: eight metacentric and eight sub-metacentric pairs, and six acrocentric pairs. The chromosomes are relatively small in length ranging from 0.5 to 1.4 m. The polyploid (tetraploid) cytotype is reported for the first time for this taxon.

Key words: Abrus pulchellus, acrocentric, chromosome counts, metacentric, polyploid, sub-metacentric.