Variable Meiotic behaviour among plants of an alloplasmic line of Maize

LIDIA POGGIO, M. ROSATO, L. B. MAZOTI Y C. A. NARANJO

CYTOLOGIA

UNIV TOKYO CYTOLOGIA

Año: 1997 vol. 62 p. 271 - 274

0011-4545

Mazoti (1978) described a transposon that induces instability in the Multiple Dominant line of maize (MDZ). According to this author, the cytoplasm of teosinte (Zea mays ssp. mexicana, Florida variety) could be an activator of this transposon inducing several morpho¬logical, physiological and cytological eiFects after several generations of backcrosses. In the MDZ, Mazoti and Velazquez (1962) had found a high percentage of pollen sterility, wide variation in the diameter of nucleoli, stickiness among meiotic chromosomes and, in cross section of anthers, very frequent intercellular contacts. In 1987, Mazoti reported that the pachytene knobs in the alloplasmic line have a larger size and a higher DNA content than in the Multiple Dominant line. In the present work cytological analyses of the Multiple Dominant line of maize and its alloplasmic line with teosinte (MDE) were performed in order to investigate the influence of teosinte cytoplasm on the meiotic behaviour.