Caryologia. International Journal of Cytology, Cytosystematics and Cytogenetics 76(1): 87-95, 2023 Firenze University Press www.fupress.com/caryologiaCaryologia International Journal of Cytology, Cytosystematics and Cytogenetics ISSN 0008-7114 (print) | ISSN 2165-5391 (online) | DOI: 10.36253/caryologia-2103 Citation: Esra Martin, Metin Armağan, Halil Erhan Eroğlu, Aslı Doğru-Koca, Osman Tugay, Golshan Zare, Osman Kola, Mahmut Miski, Nur Tan, Ernst Vitek (2023). New chromosomal data, kar- yotype asymmetry and polyploid vari- ations of some Gundelia (Asteraceae) species from Turkey. Caryologia 76(1): 87-95. doi: 10.36253/caryologia-2103 Received: April 8, 2023 Accepted: July 10, 2023 Published: September, 19, 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Esra Martin, Metin Armağan, Halil Erhan Eroğlu, Aslı Doğru-Koca, Osman Tugay, Golshan Zare, Osman Kola, Mahmut Miski, Nur Tan, Ernst Vitek. This is an open access, peer-reviewed article pub- lished by Firenze University Press (http://www.fupress.com/caryologia) and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All rel- evant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Competing Interests: The Author(s) declare(s) no conflict of interest. ORCID EM: 0000-0002-5484-0676 MA: 0000-0002-3913-954X HEE: 0000-0002-4509-4712 AD-K: 0000-0001-7477-0225 OT: 0000-0003-3980-7648 GZ: 0000-0002-5972-5191 OK: 0000-0003-0000-248X MM: 0000-0003-2653-0563 NT: 0000-0001-7958-1917 EV: 0000-0002-8977-1754 New chromosomal data, karyotype asymmetry and polyploid variations of some Gundelia (Asteraceae) species from Turkey Esra Martin1, Metin Armağan2, Halil Erhan Eroğlu3,*, Aslı Doğru- Koca4, Osman Tugay5, Golshan Zare6, Osman Kola7, Mahmut Miski8, Nur Tan9, Ernst Vitek10 1 Necmettin Erbakan University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biotechnology, Konya, Turkey 2 Necmettin Erbakan University, Ereğli Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crops, Konya, Turkey 3 Yozgat Bozok University, Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Biology, Yozgat, Turkey 4 Hacettepe University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Ankara, Turkey 5 Selçuk University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Botany, Konya, Turkey 6 Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Botany, Ankara, Turkey 7 Adana Alparslan Türkeş Science and Technology University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Food Engineering, Adana, Turkey 8 İstanbul University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, Istanbul, Tur- key 9 İstanbul University, Center for Research and Practice in Drug Development from Natu- ral Sources, Istanbul, Turkey 10 Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Department of Botany, Wien, Austria *Corresponding author. E-mail: herhan.eroglu@bozok.edu.tr Abstract. The genus Gundelia is currently represented with 18 species, of which 16 are in Turkey. In genus Gundelia, the chromosomal data were reported from 12 species. In the present study, it is aimed to eliminate the deficiencies in the knowledge about chromosomal data of Gundelia species. In Genus Gundelia, only a single chromosome number had been detected as 2n=18 so far. The chromosome numbers of four species were reported here for the first time: G. armeniaca, G. cappadocica, G. siirtica, and G. tehranica. In addition, the polyploidy in the genus was rare and G. anatolica was iden- tified as the first polyploid species. All karyotypes except G. tehranica were symmetri- cal, consisting of metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes. Secondary constric- tions were observed in the distal regions of the long arms of the longest metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes. Thus, the chromosomal data of all Turkish Gunde- lia species were completed. In conclusion, the present study presented new data into the karyological records relating the karyotype evolution and interspecific relations of genus Gundelia. Keywords: Gundelia, karyology, polyploidy, dysploidy, Anatolia. https://doi.org/10.36253/caryologia-2103 https://doi.org/10.36253/caryologia-2103 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5484-0676 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3913-954X https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4509-4712 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7477-0225 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3980-7648 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5972-5191 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0000-248X https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2653-0563 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7958-1917 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8977-1754 88 Esra Martin et al. INTRODUCTION Gundelia was first collected by Leonhard Rauwolf during his travel to the Levant between 1573 and 1575 for his herbal medicine and botanical collections. Rau- wolf and some have confused it with Dioscorides’ Sly- bum, which today is considered to be Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. (Asteraceae). Based on Rauwolf ’s description and the similarity of the synflorescens of several Eryn- gium L. (Apiaceae) species, Morison recommended the name - Eryngium Surgerycum foliis Chamaeleontis lon- gis & spinosis - at 17th century (Hind 2013). Linnaeus described G. tournefortii in 1753, after which many authors accepted Gundelia tournefortii monospecifi- cally and the described taxa thereafter synonymous of it (Linnaeus 1753; Komarov 1961; Kupicha 1975; Feinbrun Dothan 1978; Meikle 1985; Rechinger 1989). The genus is currently represented with 18 species, of which 16 (12 endemic) are in Turkey (Vitek et al. 2010, 2014, 2017; Nersesyan 2014; Armağan 2016; Fırat 2016, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c; Vitek and Noroozii 2017; Vitek 2018; Vitek and Armağan 2023). Due to the monotypic genus of Gundelia, not many investigations have been studied with molecular tech- niques. In the first studies, the phylogenetic position of the genus Gundelia in the family was determined (Karis et al. 2001, Funk et al. 2004, Panero and Croizer 2016). According to Panero and Croizer (2016), the genus is a member of the subfamily Cichorioideae. After the new species started to be published, whether the species were phylogenetically supported became a matter of curios- ity. Firstly, with limited species and samples, Vitek et al. (2010) and Tarıkahya-Hacıoğlu and Fırat (2017) were studied using the internal transcribed spacer marker. Finally, in 2021, an updated and expanded phylogeny based on DNA sequences of both ITS and ndhF genes was published by Ateş et al. (2021). Gundelia genus has special inflorescence different from other genus in the Asteraceae family. The synflore- scens of Gundelia as a whole in inflorescence is a com- position of partial synflorescens (disseminules) in the axils of bracts. These partial synflorescens (disseminules) consist of 3-9 flowers and this number is an important characteristic structure for each species (Classen-Bock- hoff et al. 1989). Gundelia grows in the semi-humid to dry meadows, mountain (steppe) meadows, dry slope areas. The evi- dence showed that the center of diversity of Gundelia is Turkey, even if the genus is distributed in the area from Armenia to Egypt and from Turkey to Afghanistan (Fig- ure 1). Gundelia is present everywhere in Turkey except the Black Sea, Marmara and coastal Aegean regions. The Figure 1. The distribution map of genus Gundelia. 89New chromosomal data, karyotype asymmetry and polyploid variations of some Gundelia species from Turkey geographical boundaries play a decisive role in their dis- tribution (Karis et al. 2001; Vitek 2018). The species belonging to the genus Gundelia are called “Kenger” in Turkish, “Akub” in Arabic and “Kuub” in Persian, and there are some local dialectical differences. Young shoots are used as vegetables in dish- es and pickles. The latex obtained from the cut shoots is dried and used as gum. Roasted fruits are consumed like coffee. It is also used as animal food in some regions. Cytotaxonomy, one of the sub-branches of taxon- omy, uses karyological parameters in the classification of organisms. In this context, chromosomal configura- tions are used to understand the relationships between species and based on the assumption that “closely relat- ed species show similar chromosomal configurations”. Thus, karyotype evolution or interspecies relationships can be reconstructed by exploiting karyological simi- larities or variations. The chromosome number, chromo- some structure and chromosomal behaviors stand out as important parameters of cytotaxonomy, and espe- cially basic chromosome number (x), diploid chromo- some number (2n) and karyotype asymmetry are the most preferred parameters (Eroğlu et al. 2020; Martin et al. 2020; Eroğlu et al. 2021; Kavcı et al. 2022). In genus Gundelia, the chromosomal data were reported from 12 species. All species were represented by only one base number (x = 9) and there were no reports of polyploidy (Al-Taey and Hossain 1984; Genç and Fırat 2019). In Turkish species of Gundelia, the chromosomal data were reported from 12 species, which were G. ana- tolica, G. asperrima, G. cilicica, G. colemerikensis, G. dersim, G. glabra, G. komagenensis, G. mesopotamica, G. munzuriensis, G. rosea, G. tournefortii, and G. vitekii (Al-Taey and Hossain 1984; Genç and Fırat 2019). There was no record of the chromosome number of four spe- cies, which were G. armeniaca, G. cappadocica, G. siir- tica, and G. tehranica. Due to the lack of some chromo- some reports from Turkey, where there are many species of the genus, some cytotaxonomic knowledge is lacking. In this study, it is aimed to complete the missing chro- mosomal data in Turkish Gundelia species. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant material Within the scope of this study, sixteen Gundelia taxa distributed in different localities of Turkey were evaluated karyologically. The evaluated samples were collected from natural habitats by Dr. Metin Armağan et al. Table 1 represents the collection information and dis- tribution regions. Turkish Gundelia species whose chro- mosomal data were reported in previous studies were collected from different localities to investigate chromo- somal variations. Chromosome preparation The plant seeds were germinated between moist Whatman papers and pretreated by α-mono- bromonaphthalene at 4°C for 16 h. Then, root tips were fixed by fixative solution (3 absolute alcohol and 1 gla- cial acetic acid - v:v) at 4°C for 24 h. The fixed root tips were stored in ethanol (70%) at 4°C. Then, root tips were hydrolyzed in 1 N hydrochloric acid at room tempera- ture for 10 min and stained in aceto-orcein (2%). Then, squash preparations were prepared by acetic acid (45%). The preparations were frozen in liquid nitrogen, dried at room temperature, and stabilized with Depex medium (Eroğlu et al. 2020; Martin et al. 2020; Eroğlu et al. 2021; Kavcı et al. 2022). Karyotype analysis Well-spread ten metaphase plates were used to detect for the chromosome numbers of all species. Detailed chromosomal measurements of four species whose chromosome number was investigated for the first time were made by Karyotype software. The fol- lowing parameters and formulae were used to chromo- some characterizations karyotype analysis: short arm length of chromosome (p), long arm length of chromo- some (q), total chromosome length (p + q), total hap- loid length (THL), mean haploid length (MHL), relative length (RL) = [(p + q) / THL] × 100, and centromeric index (CI) = [(p) / (p + q)] × 100. The karyotype formu- lae were detected based on centromere position (Levan et al. 1964) and the monoploid ideograms were drawn. The following formulae were used to determine the intrachromosomal asymmetry (MCA) and interchromo- somal asymmetry (CVCL): MCA = [mean (qt − pt) / (qt + pt)] × 100; qt, total length of long arms and pt, total length of short arms (Peruzzi and Eroğlu 2013). CVCL = (SCL / XCL) × 100; SCL, standard deviation in a chromo- some set and XCL, mean chromosome length in a chro- mosome set (Paszko 2006). RESULTS Chromosome records of 16 species are herein pro- vided (Figure 2), four of which are reported for the first time (G. armeniaca, G. cappadocica, G. siirtica, and G. 90 Esra Martin et al. tehranica), one presents polyploidy for the first time (G. anatolica), and twelve agree previous reports. Table 2 shows the chromosome numbers of present and previous reports. Except for polyploidy (Figure 3), the only one chromosome number detected was 2n = 18. Detailed chromosomal data and monoploid ideo- grams of the four species, whose chromosome numbers were reported for the first time were given in Table 3 and Figure 4. The smallest chromosome length among the species was 3.94 μm, in G. siirtica. The largest chro- mosome length was detected in G. tehranica, with 8.65 μm. The smallest total haploid length was 44.37 μm, in G. siirtica, and the highest value was 51.71 μm, in G. armeniaca and G. cappadocia. Genus Gundelia was a monobasic genus by x = 9 with ploidy levels of 2x and 4x. Fifteen species were diploid with 2n = 2x = 18. G. anatolica was diploid and polyploid, which revealed only one polyploidy level of tetraploidy (2n = 4x = 36). All species except G. tehranica had median (m) and submedian (sm) chromosomes, but not subtelocentric (st) and telocentric (t) chromosomes. Two different karyotype formulae were observed, which were 14m + 4sm and 12m + 2sm + 2st. Secondary constrictions were observed in the distal regions of the long arms of the longest meta- centric and submetacentric chromosomes (Figure 4). In intrachromosomal asymmetry, MCA value ranged from 9.98 (G. siirtica) to 10.63 (G. tehranica), which referred to symmetric karyotypes. In interchromosomal asymmetry, CVCL value ranged from 13.82 (G. armeni- aca) to 23.75 (G. tehranica), which referred to karyotype heterogeneity (Table 3). DISCUSSION Only one chromosome number excluding polyploidy was detected as 2n = 18, which was the only diploid Table 1. Collection information and voucher specimens of Gundelia taxa. Species (alphabetically) Locality Voucher G. anatolica Fırat Konya: Karapınar, S of Meke Crater Lake, 1080 m, volcanic dune (steppe), 37 40 22.3 N 33 38 32.4 E, 16 May 2016 M.Armağan 6734 G. armeniaca Nersesian Muş: Karabey, 1400 m, steppe, 38 55 50.2 N 41 10 40.0 E, 01 June 2015 M.Armağan 6552 G. asperrima (Trautv.) Fırat Bingöl: between Elazığ and Bingöl, Kuruca Pass, 1720 m, meadows, 38 57 22,0 N 40 14 50,6 E, 21 June 2017 M.Armağan 7544 G. cappadocica Fırat Nevşehir: Avanos, Bozca, 1070 m, steppe (on calcareous soils), 38 46 06.2 N 34 59 56.9 E, 30 May 2021 O.Tugay 18.345 G. cilicica Fırat Mersin: Erdemli, Tozlu, 1565 m, on degraded fields of Juniperus sp. forest (steppe), 36 49 14.4 N 34 08 42.1 E, 25 June 2020 M.Armağan Obs-MTN55, O.Tugay, E.Karahisar G. colemerikensis Fırat Van: Başkale, between Kovalıpınar and Ömerabat, 1960 m, dry slopes, 37 49 35.8 N 44 04 20.0 E, 24 June 2020 M.Armağan 8335 G. dersim Vitek, Yüce & Ergin Tunceli: Ovacık, Adaköy, 1285 m, meadows, 39 20 45.2 N 39 06 53.6 E, 29 May 2020 M.Armağan 8308, M.Özel, R.Karapınar G. glabra Mill. Elazığ: Yukarıbağ, 856 m, steppe, 38 38 01.8 N 39 34 54.6 E, 28 May 2020 M.Armağan 8306 G. komagenensis Fırat Malatya: Battalgazi, NE of Beydağı, 1080 m, 38 18 10.0 N 38 27 23.6 E, 18 July 2020 M.Armağan Obs-MTN58, O.Tugay, E.Karahisar G. mesopotamica Fırat Mardin: Artuklu, Avcılar, 715 m, steppe on limestone bedrock, 37 17 53.8 N 40 42 12.9 E, 26 May 2020 M.Armağan 8293 G. munzuriensis Vitek, Yüce & Ergin Tunceli: Ovacık, above Gözeler, Munzur Mountains, 2500 m, mountain steppe, 39 26 35,9 N 39 14 22,4 E, 15 July 2020 M.Armağan 8358, M.Özel, R.Karapınar, K.Es. G. rosea M.Hossain & Al-Taey Şırnak: Uludere, Güzelyazı, Hakkari-Şırnak roadside, 1380 m, dry slopes, 37 22 28.3 N 42 59 47.6 E, 23 June 2020 M.Armağan 8328, O.Tugay G. siirtica Fırat Siirt: Kurtalan, Erdurağı, mountain (steppe) meadows, 926 m, 37 53 59.1 N 41 35 32.2 E, 30 July 2020 M.Armağan 8300 G. tehranica Vitek & Noroozi Şırnak: Silopi, Dedeler740 m, dry slopes, 37 19 18.5 N 42 25 32.8 E, 23 June 2020 M.Armağan 8325, O.Tugay G. tournefortii L. Karaman: Ermenek, Aşağıakın, 1110 m, steppe, 36 53 47.8 N 33 01 06.2 E, 22 August 2020 O.Tugay 17786, E.Karahisar G. vitekii Armağan Tunceli: Ovacık, Şahverdi, Mercan Valley, 1623 m, steppe, 39 27 10.8 N 39 23 51.9 E, 14 July 2020 M.Armağan 8309, M.Özel, R.Karapınar, K.Es. 91New chromosomal data, karyotype asymmetry and polyploid variations of some Gundelia species from Turkey number ever reported in the genus. The chromosome numbers of four species were reported here for the first time: G. armeniaca, G. cappadocica, G. siirtica, and G. tehranica. The chromosome numbers were the same as in previous reports in 12 species, which were G. anatoli- ca, G. asperrima, G. cilicica, G. colemerikensis, G. dersim, G. glabra, G. komagenensis, G. mesopotamica, G. munzu- riensis, G. rosea, G. tournefortii, and G. vitekii (Al-Taey and Hossain 1984; Genç and Fırat 2019). A basic chromosome number of x = 9 dominates in genus Gundelia and the genus is monobasic. The absence of basic number variations in genus Gundelia indicat- ed that the mechanism of dysploidy probably did not occur in the karyotype evolution of the genus. Because Figure 2. Somatic metaphase chromosomes of Turkish Gundelia species. (a) G. armeniaca; (b) G. cappadocica; (c) G. siirtica; (d) G. teh- ranica; (e) G. anatolica; (e) G. asperrima; (e) G. cilicica; (e) G. colemerikensis; (e) G. dersim; (e) G. glabra; (e) G. komagenensis; (e) G. meso- potamica; (e) G. munzuriensis; (e) G. rosea; (e) G. tournefortii; and (e) G. vitekii. 92 Esra Martin et al. dysploidy causes basic number variations by fusion of metacentric chromosomes or reciprocal translocations (Eroğlu et al. 2020; Martin et al. 2022). In addition, the polyploidy in the genus was rare and G. anatolica was identified as the first polyploid species. Fifteen species had metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes and only one species had subtelocentric chromosomes, whereas no telocentric (t) chromosomes were observed. Two different karyotype samples were observed, which were m-sm and m-sm-st including sec- ondary constrictions. Thus, five chromosome types were determined according to the positions of the primary and secondary constrictions: (i) metacentric (ii) meta- centric with secondary constriction in the distal region Figure 3. The polyploidy of Gundelia anatolica. Table 2. The chromosome numbers of Turkish Gundelia in present and previous studies. All species were studied in this study. Turkish Gundelia species whose chromosomal data were reported in previous studies were collected from different localities to investigate chromo- somal variations. Species (alphabetically) Previous results x = basic number, 2n (ploidy level) References Presents results x = basic number, 2n (ploidy level) Observation G. anatolica x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) x = 9, 2n = 36 (polyploid) Equal count First report G. armeniaca x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) First report G. asperrima x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count G. cappadocica x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) First report G. cilicica x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count G. colemerikensis x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count G. dersim x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count G. glabra x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count G. komagenensis x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count G. mesopotamica x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count G. munzuriensis x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count G. rosea x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Al-Taey and Hossain 1984 Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count G. siirtica x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) First report G. tehranica x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) First report G. tournefortii x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Al-Taey and Hossain 1984 Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count G. vitekii x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Genç and Fırat 2019 x = 9, 2n = 18 (diploid) Equal count 93New chromosomal data, karyotype asymmetry and polyploid variations of some Gundelia species from Turkey Table 3. The detailed chromosomal data and asymmetry indices of species whose chromosome number was reported for the first time (KF: karyotype formula, SC: the shortest chromosome length, LC: the longest chromosome length, RL: relative length, CI: centromeric index, THL: total haploid length, MHL: mean haploid length, MCA: mean centromeric asymmetry, CVCL: coefficient of variation of chromosome length). G. armeniaca G. cappadocica G. siirtica G. tehranica KF 14m + 4sm 14m + 4sm 14m + 4sm 12m + 2sm + 2st SC (μm) 4.80 4.57 3.94 4.01 LC (μm) 7.10 8.51 6.97 8.65 RL (%) SC–LC 9.28–13.73 8.84–16.46 8.88–15.71 7.92–17.08 CI (min–max) 33.82–49.45 25.46–49.30 32.87–49.43 23.02–49.80 THL 51.71 51.71 44.37 50.65 MHL 5.75 5.75 4.93 5.63 MCA 10.02 10.53 9.98 10.63 CVCL 13.82 22.72 21.30 23.75 Figure 4. The monoploid ideograms of the species whose chromosome number was reported for the first time. (a) G. armeniaca; (b) G. cap- padocica; (c) G. siirtica; (d) G. tehranica. 94 Esra Martin et al. of the long arm, (iii) submetacentric, (iv) submetacen- tric with secondary constriction in the distal region of the long arm, (v) subtelocentric. In twelve Gundelia spe- cies, Genç and Fırat (2019) reported that the secondary constrictions at short or long arms of submetacentric chromosomes and in the distal region of long arm of the longest metacentric chromosome. In intrachromosomal asymmetry, all karyotypes were symmetric. The most symmetric and asymmetri- cal karyotypes were the karyotypes of G. siirtica and G. tehranica, respectively. In interchromosomal asymme- try, all karyotypes were symmetric. The most symmetric and asymmetrical karyotypes were the karyotypes of G. armeniaca and G. tehranica, respectively. Genç and Fırat (2019) reported that G. rosea and G. tournefortii had the relatively high intrachromosomal asymmetry and low intrachromosomal asymmetry, respectively; also, G. vitekii and G. anatolica had the high interchromosomal and low interchromosomal asymmetry, respectively. In the present study, it was recorded only one chro- mosome number (2n = 18) excluding polyploidy (2n = 36), the first report for diploid numbers of four species, the first report of polyploidy for the genus, and the same chromosome count with previous report in the twelve species. Thus, the chromosomal data of all Turkish Gun- delia species were completed. In conclusion, the present study presented new data into the karyological records relating the karyotype evolution and interspecies rela- tions of genus Gundelia. In addition, the dysploidy and polyploidy mechanisms probably did not have an impor- tant role in the speciation of genus. 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Ann Naturhist Mus Wien, B 111:85–99. Vitek E, Yüce E, Çakılcıoğlu U. 2017. Gundelia glabra Miller (Compositae) – an ignored taxon. Ann Naturhist Mus Wien, B 119:235–242. Vitek E, Yüce E, Ergin C. 2014. Gundelia dersim and Gundelia munzuriensis (Compositae), two new spe- cies from Turkey. Phytotaxa 161:130–138. Vitek E, Noroozi J. 2017. Gundelia tehranica (Composi- tae), a new species from Iran. Ann Naturhist Mus Wien, B 119:243–248. Caryologia International Journal of Cytology, Cytosystematics and Cytogenetics Volume 76, Issue 1 - 2023 Firenze University Press Cytogenetic studies in the Andropogon gayanus-Andropogon tectorum Complex in Southwestern Nigeria Funmilola Mabel Ojo1,*, Chinyere Constance Nwokeocha2, Julius Olaoye Faluyi3 Incidence and frequency of desynapsis in Eremurus persicus (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss.(Asphodelaceae) – A native and important medicinal plant species of Western Himalaya Shivali Verma¹, Irfan I. Sofi², Aijaz H. Ganie², Manzoor A. Shah², Namrata Sharma¹ Comparative cytogenetics of four endemic Capoeta (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) species from Anatolia, Türkiye Sevgi Unal-Karakus1,*, Muhammet Gaffaroglu2, Muradiye Karasu-Ayata3 A karyomorphological comparison of seven species of Achillea L. from Kurdistan of Iran Fatemeh Nezhadi1, Farzad Fayaz2,*, Ezzat Karami2, Hooshmand Safari3, Abdol Rahman Rahimi2 Genotoxicity of a synthetic plant growth regulator, Forchlorfenuron (CPPU), on human lymphocytes using chromosome aberration assay Ayşe Yavuz Kocaman1,*, Berna Yakar2 Phenthoate toxicity evaluation in root meristem of Pisum sativum L. Sazada Siddiqui Karyomorphology of two subspecies of Anthemis maritima (Asteraceae) from Algeria Meryem Nassar1,4,*, Nora Sakhraoui2,4, Gianniantonio Domina3 Cytogenetic effects of Tribulus terrestris L. on meristematic cells of Allium cepa L. and Vicia faba L. Ali Bouzekri1,2,*, Meryem Nassar1,2, Souheila Slimani1,2, Zohra Chekroud1,2 New chromosomal data, karyotype asymmetry and polyploid variations of some Gundelia (Asteraceae) species from Turkey Esra Martin1, Metin Armağan2, Halil Erhan Eroğlu3*, Aslı Doğru-Koca4, Osman Tugay5, Golshan Zare6, Osman Kola7, Mahmut Miski8, Nur Tan9, Ernst Vitek10 Allelopathic and toxicological effects of Origanum vulgare L. essential oil Lejla Husić, Adisa Parić, Aner Mesic* Cytogenetic analysis in Tetragonopterus franciscoensis (Characiformes): another piece to the karyoevolutionary puzzle of tetra fishes Mauricio Barros Fernandes, Jamille de Araújo Bitencourt, Joandson Calixto dos Santos, José Henrique Galdino*, Paulo Roberto Antunes de Mello Affonso