Latest Ploidy Stories
Pensoft Publishers Chromosome number is the most basic feature concerning the genome of a species, and it is known for about one third of higher plant species. In particular, for plants of Italy, Slovakia, and Poland, online chromosome number databases have been developed: 'Chrobase.it – Chromosome numbers for the Italian flora', 'Karyological database of ferns and flowering plants of Slovakia' and 'Chromosome number database – PLANTS', respectively. The three datasets account for...
Public Library of Science Over 60 percent of aspen in parts of Utah, Colorado are triploid, new study shows A large proportion of aspen in the western U.S. sport an extra set of chromosomes in their cells, a phenomenon termed triploidy, according to new research published Oct. 31 in the open access journal PLoS ONE by Karen Mock from Utah State University and colleagues at several other institutions. In some areas of southern Utah and Colorado, over 60% of aspen trees are triploid....
MANHATTAN, Kan., Aug. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Heartland Plant Innovations (HPI) has been awarded $2.5 million in funding from the Kansas Bioscience Authority (KBA) for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012. HPI will utilize this funding to continue its mission of accelerating research, development, and commercialization of profitable innovations in the market performance of wheat and sorghum. As with other KBA awards, funding is tied to HPI's achievement of key milestones during...
Besides the obvious differences between plants and animals, subtle ones lie concealed within the cell, even within the nucleus. In both plant and animal cells, the nucleus contains DNA, which condenses into chromosomes during cell division. Chromosomes can be counted at that stage, revealing the chromosome number for each species. Here comes a difference: while the chromosome number spans a relatively short range across animal species (2-296: 46 in man), some plant species have over 1000...
Researchers reporting in the April 27 issue of the journal Cell , a Cell Press publication, have devised a new and improved method for producing genetically modified animals for use in scientific research. The method relies on haploid embryonic stem cells (haESCs) instead of sperm to artificially fertilize immature egg cells. Such stem cells are similar to sperm in that they carry only genetic material from a mouse "dad." Not only will the advance make it easier to produce genetically...
Analysis of chromosome number variation among species of a North American group of prickly pear cacti (nopales) showed that the most widespread species encountered are of hybrid origin. Those widespread species likely originated from hybridization among closely related parental species from western and southeastern North America. This study was published in the open access journal Comparative Cytogenetics. The prickly pear cacti (of the genus Opuntia) are endemic to the Americas. The genus...
Stress-induced genomic instability facilitates rapid cellular adaption in yeast Cells trying to keep pace with constantly changing environmental conditions need to strike a fine balance between maintaining their genomic integrity and allowing enough genetic flexibility to adapt to inhospitable conditions. In their latest study, researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research were able to show that under stressful conditions yeast genomes become unstable, readily acquiring or...
They are the Robinson Crusoes of the intracellular world -- lone chromosomes, whole and hardy, stranded outside the nucleus where their fellow chromosomes reside. Such castaways, each confined to its own "micronucleus," are often found in cancer cells, but scientists haven't known what role, if any, they play in the cancer process. In a paper published online on Jan. 18 by the journal Nature, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have mapped out a mechanism by which micronuclei could...
A new University of Florida study shows genomes of a recently formed plant species to be highly unstable, a phenomenon that may have far-reaching evolutionary consequences. Published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study is the first to document chromosomal variation in natural populations of a recently formed plant species following whole genome doubling, or polyploidy. Because many agricultural crops are young polyploids, the data may be used...
An international team of scientists, including biologists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, may have pinpointed for the first time the mechanism responsible for cell polyploidy, a state in which cells contain more than 2 paired sets of chromosomes. When it comes to human chromosomes and the genes they carry, our tissue cells prefer matched pairs. Bundled within the nucleus of our cells are 46 chromosomes, one set of 23 inherited from each of our parents. Thus, we are...
