Karyotype of Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (Aizoaceae) studied by chromosome banding, FISH with rDNA probes and immunofluorescence detection of DNA methylation

• Published in: Plant biosystems 2016-09, Vol.150 (5), p.916-922
• Main Authors: Bolsheva, N. L., Dyachenko, O. V., Samatadze, T. E., Rachinskaya, O. A., Zakharchenko, N. S., Shevchuk, T. V., Amosova, A. V., Muravenko, O. V., Zelenin, A. V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: chromosome banding; Chromosomes; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA methylation; FISH; karyotype; Karyotypes; Mesembryanthemum crystallinum; Probes; Salinization
• ISSN: 1126-3504; 1724-5575
• DOI: 10.1080/11263504.2014.991360

The karyotype of the common ice plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L. (Aizoaceae) was studied using Chromomycin A 3 (CMA)/4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining, fluorescence in situ hybridization with 5S and 18S-5.8S-25S rDNA probes, DAPI/C-banding and immunodetection of 5-methylcytosine. A single bright CMA-band was revealed on the satellite chromosome, whose location was coincided with a position of a site of 18S-5.8S-25S rRNA genes. A site of 5S rRNA genes was observed on one of the other chromosomes. Relatively large DAPI/C-bands were mainly localized in the pericentromeric regions of the chromosomes. DAPI/C-banding patterns allowed us to identify all the chromosomes in the karyotype of M. crystallinum. The methylation of euchromatic chromosome regions was weaker as compared with heterochromatic DAPI/C-bands, which were hypermethylated. The obtained results may provide opportunities for investigating, at the chromosomal level, the genomic changes occurring in M. crystallinum either under salinization or under the action of other stress factors.