Microscopic Observation of Pollen Mother Cell Chromosomes at Meiosis of Flowering Cherry ‘Somei-yoshino’

Flowering cherry ‘Somei-yoshino’ was obtained as a hybrid between ‘Edo-higan’ and ‘Ohshima-sakura’ about 150 years ago, and since then it has been a very popular plant in Japan. In addition to cherry-blossom viewing, Somei-yoshino trees contribute foodstuffs, fuel, smoking material, etc. Because of its popularity and resource value, a wide variety of biological analyses of this tree have been conducted. Regarding its chromosome organization, the chromosome number and genome DNA sequence have already been determined. However, meiotic chromosome behavior in their meiocytes with two genomes of different species remains to be revealed. In this research, we collected and enzymatically digested their buds, and spread chromosomes on glass slides. The chromosomes were stained with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and we observed them using a fluorescent microscope. As the results of observation of the pollen mother cells at meiosis, we found totally paired chromosomes at pachytene and eight bivalents at metaphase I, suggesting that homeologous chromosomes paired normally in Someiyoshino meiocytes after about 5.5 million years of independent evolution.Departmental Bulletin Paper原著2020年度 神奈川大学総合理学研究所共同研究助成論文departmental bulletin pape