Abstract

Comparison of karyology, restriction patterns and DNA methylation levels (as gender separation could be related to some epigenetic mechanism, e.g. DNA methylation) has been performed between male and female individuals of the dioecious species, Chara tomentosa. In contrast to angiosperms, sex determination systems in Charophyceae have not been studied. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed that the cytosine methylation level in female plants of Chara tomentosa reached 5·9%, while in male plants it reached 9·1%. Karyological analysis did not show any differences in metaphase chromosome number or morphology between sexes. Cytophotometric measurements of DNA content revealed differences in 1C DNA content : 7·0 pg in females and 7·4 pg in males (p < 0·001). Computer image analysis showed that in the interphase nuclei condensed chromatin consists of 34·3% of the total chromatin in female plants, while in males it was 29·6% of total chromatin (p < 0·001). Digestion of isolated DNAs with 12 enzyme...

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