title: Nuclear genome size in Selaginella.
abstract: Estimates of nuclear genome size for 9 Selaginella species were obtained using flow cytometry, and measurements for 7 of these species are reported for the first time. Estimates range from 0.086 to 0.112 pg per holoploid genome (84-110 Mb). The data presented here agree with the previously published flow cytometric results for S. moellendorffii. Within the 9 species sampled here, chromosome number varies from 2n = 16 to 2n = 27. Nuclear genome size appears to be strongly correlated with chromosome number (Spearman's rank correlation; p = 0.00003725). Cultivated S. moellendorffii lacks sexual reproduction--manifest by the production of abortive megasporangia. Flow cytometric data generated from a herbarium specimen of a fertile wild-collected S. moellendorffii are virtually indistinguishable from the data generated from fresh material (0.088 vs. 0.089 pg/1C). Therefore, the limited fertility observed in cultivated plants is probably not the result of abnormal chromosome number (e.g., induced by interspecific hybridization).
authors.affiliation: Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Program for Molecular Systematic Studies, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458-5126, USA. dlittle@nybg.org
authors.forename: Damon P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Little
authors.forename: Robbin C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.forename: Eric D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.forename: Dennis Wm
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Stevenson
mesh_terms: D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics*; D018745:Genome, Plant; D032503:Selaginellaceae / Q000235:genetics*