Abstract
Rhoeo discolor (2n = 12) was used to study the effect of colchicine on chromosome pairing during meiosis. Pachytene pairing appeared unaffected, but only 17.5% of the PMCs formed a ring of 12 chromosomes at metaphase I of meiosis. While 27.5% of cells had a complete chain of 12, 49.0% had chain configurations of varying (2–11) number of chromosomes and 6.0% had complete univalence. Adjacent orientation was found in the majority of cells with chain complexes of 2–11 chromosomes. The result was highly disturbed anaphase I where 58.4% PMCs were abnormal. It is concluded that the presence of aberrant cells at metaphase I is either due to colchicine-induced ineffectiveness of pairing at the very small pairing regions or failure of chiasma formation.Key words: colchicine, meiosis, Rhoeo discolor, translocation heterozygote, univalents, alternate/adjacent orientation.
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