Karyotype analysis of three alpine taraxacum species (Asteraceae) in Japan

Abstract

We present the karyotypes of three Japanese alpine Taraxacum species (Taraxacum alpicola, T. yatsugatakense and T. yuparense) in order to provide insight into their origins and taxonomic relationships. T. alpicola and T. yatsugatakense were triploid plants with similar karyotypes (2n=24=18(M+m)+4mcs+2smcs), while T. yuparense was a diploid plant with the karyotype 2n=16=12m+4mcs. The karyotypes of both T. alpicola and T. yatsugatakense were considered a combination of two chromosome sets of 6m+2mcs and one chromosome set of 6m+2smcs. Our study reveals that T. alpicola and T. yatsugatakense are autoallopolyploids.