Studies on Male Meiosis and Microsporogenesis in <i>Rumex dentatus</i> L., an Important Medicinal Plant of North Western Himalaya

Abstract

The present work includes male meiotic studies on 16 populations of Rumex dentatus from different localities of Kashmir Himalaya in diverse altitudinal ranges. The species has been cytologically worked out for the first time from the area. The meiotic chromosome count of n= 21 is the first varied chromosome report while as n=60 adds a new cytotype for the species. The basic chromosome numbers for the genus Rumex are reported as 7, 8, 9, and 10. Conforming to x=10, the present investigated taxa are tetraploid and dodecaploid, respectively. The plants belonging to tetraploid cytotypes of R. dentatus were normal in their meiotic course. The accessions of the dodecaploid cytotype showed the phenomenon of cytomixis involving transfer of chromatin material among proximate pollen mother cells (PMCs) and associated meiotic abnormalities like chromatin stickiness, laggards, bridges and multipolarity.