Cytotypic Diversity in Selected Taxa of Botanical Garden of Botanical Survey of India, Central Regional Center, Allahabad

Ashutosh Verma

Background and Objective: Botanical gardens are conservatories where living plants are conserved for scientific, academic and awareness programs. Assessments of existing cytotypic diversity at inter and intraspecific levels provide a real pen picture of the genetic diversity of germplasm present in any ex situ conservatory like botanical garden. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken for the assessment of cytotypic diversity in targeted taxa. Materials and Methods: A total number of 51 species of economically important angiosperms which are growing in the botanical garden of Botanical Survey of India, Central Regional Center and Allahabad were investigated for evaluation of existing cytotypic diversity. Meiotic preparations were made as per the standard squash preparation technique. Results: Among the worked-out species 47 species were represented by a single cytotype and the remaining four by two cytotypes. Besides, new cytotypes were recorded for 07 species of angiosperms which are possibly new to science. Conclusion: The findings of the present investigation are important in terms of the assessment of genetic diversity and conservational aspects of the aforesaid botanical garden. The identified unique germplasm of the concerned species will be utilized by the researchers who are working on genetic improvement and gene identification programs.

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