A New Procedure to Prepare Slides of Metaphase Chromosomes of Roses

Abstract

To our knowledge, there has been no published technique to produce consistently high-quality slides of somatic chromosomes of roses ( Rosa sp.). Therefore, various pretreatments, fixatives, digestions, stains, and maceration and squashing methods were tested to identify a procedure to produce clear, well-spread chromosomes from shoot tips. The best results were obtained after pretreatment in a mixture of 0.1% colchicine and 0.001 m 8-hydroxyquinoline for 4 h, and fixation in 2 acetone: 1 acetic acid (v/v) with 2% (w/v) polyvinylpyrrolidone. The darkest-stained chromosomes were obtained with carbol-fuchsin staining of air-dried cell suspensions that had been spread in 3 ethanol: 1 acetic acid (v/v).