Preparation of Mitotic and Meiotic Metaphase Chromosomes from Young Leaves and Flower Buds of Coccinia grandis

Abstract

Somatic chromosomes are usually studied from the root tip cells of the plants for cytological investigations. In dioecious plant species like Coccinia grandis, it is very difficult to get meristematic root tip cells from the mature plants of the respective sex forms. In this report, young leaves of the respective sexual phenotypes were used as tissue samples for mitotic chromosome analysis. For meiotic preparation, flower buds of appropriate size were selected for chromosomal studies. Following protocols could be effectively used for routine chromosome preparations in other plant species as well.