Mapeamento cromossômico de DNA satélite e comportamento meiótico no complexo Poliploide Lippia alba (Mill.) N. E. Br.

Abstract

Lippia alba (Verbenaceae) is a tropical aromatic shrub with extensive phenotypical and genomic plasticity widely used in traditional medicine. Recently, the species was described as a new natural autopolyploid complex with five distinct chromosome numbers (2x=30, 2x=30+8, 3x=45, 4x=60 and 6x=90). Strides have been done in order to understand the cytotypes origin and species evolution. In this study, a detailed karyotype of L. alba using Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) with species-specific probes was described. We also report the meiosis behavior and pollen viability in sixty accessions. Using massive parallel sequencing (IIlumina MiSeq platform) new cytogenetic landmarks (CL66 and CL98) were chosen for probing all cytotypes described for the species. For meiotic analysis, the percentage of abnormalities was quantified, evaluating around 100 cells in six stages (metaphase I; anaphase I + telophase I; metaphase II; anaphase II + telophase II). Around 1,000 pollen per accession were used to estimate pollen viability. FISH results revealed that both satDNA arrays are located preferentially on terminal sites of the chromosomes. In general, the CL98 repeat showed a uniform pattern in different accessions. We observed 2, 3, 4, and 6 marked chromosomes respectively in diploid, triploid, tetraploid and hexaploid accessions revealing that the number of depicted chromosomes varied proportionally according to the ploidy level. On the other hand, the CL66 repeat was polymorphic. Great variations were observed among the accessions mainly within the diploids. In general, the meiotic analysis revealed higher index of abnormalities in polyploid cytotypes. However, some 2x accessions also showed considerable irregularities during the microsporogenesis. Desynapsis, unequal segregation, lost chromosomes, triads and polyads were the most common irregularities observed. Pollen viability analysis corroborated the meiosis data. It was possible to conclude that 1) the development of specific landmarks for L. alba was efficient; 2) the karyotypic profiles of both satDNA revealed different behavior; 3) microsporogenesis analysis and pollen viability of 2x accessions suggest that diploids are the key point for the origin of the polyploid complex and 4) independent and multiples events of genome duplication associated to chromosome rearrangements may have generated great karyotypic variation in the species. L. alba karyotype is possibly under stabilization process making the species an important model to study natural polyploids in the tropics.