Ploidy level versus DNA ploidy level: an appeal for consistent terminology

Abstract

Abstract There is an ever–increasing amount of cytogenetic data in plant sciences obtained by cytometric techniques, particularly flow cytometry. However, as these methods determine nuclear DNA amount irrespective of the number of chromosomes, a discrepancy between cytometric and karyological data may occur. To avoid potential bias, we appeal for consistency, distinguishing between the terms "ploidy / aneuploidy" referring to chromosome numbers and "DNA ploidy / DNA aneuploidy" to nuclear DNA content.