Abstract
India holds a significant rank in production and consumption of the age old protein rich crop Lentil with only one cultivated species and a large number of phenotypically similar cultivars. The need for a reliable and cost effective method of genetic characterization to unravel differences within the Lentil cultivars was felt. The present paper adopted EMA based chromosome preparation followed by staining with two contrasting fluorochromes dyes CMA and DAPI that bind directly to GC and AT rich heterochromatic segments on chromosomes. Analysis of fluorochrome banding pattern furnished a comparative account of genetic diversity within the cultivars that could not be achieved by traditional karyotyping. The marker pair of nucleolar chromosomes (4th and 3rd, majorly) occupied a pivotal position to intensify differences between cultivars in terms of banding patterns around secondary constrictions, suggestive of yet unknown variation in heterochromatin composition. Our study has strengthened genetic background and relationships of Lentil cultivars. We observed certain types of unusual fluorochrome bands that put forward the exclusivity of Indian germplasm and have questioned the mainstream heterochromatin elements of plant chromosomes captured by CMA-DAPI stains. The comprehensive fluorescent karyotypes of 30 L. culinaris cultivars prepared for the first time, serve as an archetype for the benefit of future breeding programmes in any Indian crop.
Highlights
Lentil is one of the richest protein containing domesticated ancient crop with only one globally cultivated species Lens culinaris Medik
The present paper considers a fluorescent karyotype dataset of 30 Indian L. culinaris cultivars for the first time, as an important kit for Lentil breeders and genome researchers
Somatic chromosome analysis of the 30 Lentil cultivars based on fluorescence banding patterns has provided an interesting catalogue of chromosome diversity
Summary
We have published detailed karyotype analysis of more than thirty L. culinaris cultivars obtained from the Indian Institute of Pulses (Jha et al 2015, 2017; Jha and Halder 2016) through EMA based Giemsa staining method. Considering the status of research, we question i) is there any karyotype variability across cultivars beyond chromosome number, morphology and ploidy? As EMA based chromosome analysis (Fukui 1996) is the basis of molecular cytogenetics, we decided to carry forward our work with two contrasting fluorescent stains DAPI and CMA on the same cultivars. The present paper considers a fluorescent karyotype dataset of 30 Indian L. culinaris cultivars for the first time, as an important kit for Lentil breeders and genome researchers
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