Karyology Study of Ten Trifolium Species in Fars Province

Chromosome information is an important key for taxonomy, phylogeny and genetic in Trifolium plants. Thus, ten Trifolium species namely T. grandiflorum, T. resupinatum, T. dasyurum, T. campestre, T. tomentosum, T. hirtum, T. scabrum, T. lappaceum, T. stellatum, and T. repens were collected from their habitats in Fars province based on their morphological characteristics to investigate their karyotypes. To analyze the karyology of samples, the fresh grown root tips were used. Then α-bromonaphtaline, formaldehyde and chromium trioxide (1:1), 1N NaOH and hematoxylin were used for pre-treatment, fixative, hydrolyzer and chromosome staining agent, respectively. We found the three usual basic chromosome numbers in the genus as x=5, x=7 and x=8. Nine species were diploid and T. repense was only tetraploid species (2n=4x=32). The detailed correlation coefficient was estimated for all paired combinations of the karyotypic characteristics to investigate their inter-relationships. Duncan’s test applied to the chromosome morphometric traits showed a highly significant difference among all examined species belongs to different sections.