A COMPARATIVE CHROMOSOMAL COUNT AND MORPHOLOGICAL KARYOTYPING OF THREE INDIGENOUS CULTIVARS OF KALONGI (NIGELLA SATIVA L.)

Abstract

In the present study karyotypic analysis of three cultivars of Nigella sativa L., has been carried out to determine chromosomal position by using “Feulgen stain”. The diploid chromosomes were twelve in numbers, characterized in six pair of chromosomes. All the cultivars had similar chromosomal formula 2n = 12 = 10 m + 2T. The total length of chromosomes among the land races of Kohat, (10.84µm to 4.50 µm), Faisalabad (10.00µm to 4.50µm) and Kashmir (4.66 µm to 8.16 µm) were calculated. Based on the centromeric position, there is a slight variation in the total length of the chromosome complements of Kohat and Faisalabad, whereas cultivars of Kashmir was found with much smaller chromosomal length. The variation in centromeric position and chromosomal length among these cultivars may be attributed to genetic recombinations.