African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12487

Full Length Research Paper

Mitotic index studies on edible cocoyams (Xanthosoma and Colocasia spp.)

Ekanem, A.M. and Osuji, J.O.*
Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.  
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 20 March 2006
  •  Published: 31 May 2006

Abstract

Mitotic index studies were carried out on three cultivars of Xanthosoma and four cultivars of Colocasia. Young healthy roots (about 15 mm) were collected at 2 hourly intervals from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm. Root tips were fixed in 1:3 ethanol : acetic acid for 24 h and stored in 70% ethanol prior to squashing in FLP orcein. Microscopic counts showed that the dynamics of mitosis varied slightly between the two groups of cultivars. The peak of metaphase remained between 12:00 noon and 2:00 pm for most of cultivars but one (NCY 00Sa), which had its metaphase rising to a peak between 2:00 and 4:00 pm. This suggests that the best time to harvest root samples for optimum metaphase is immediately before 12:00 noon.

 

Key words: Chromosomes, cocoyam, mitotic division, metaphase, young healthy root tips.

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This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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