Karyotypic study in several populations of Panicum miliaceum L. and Setaria italica

The study was carried out on karyotypes of 15 Panicum miliaceum L. and Setaria italica L. populations. Karyotypic attributes were recorded at metaphase stage of mitotic cells of the populations. Karyotypic parameters, including total length of chromosome, long and short arms length, arm ratio, centromer index, differences between the relative length, intra and inter-chromosomal index and total form percentage were estimated. Analysis of variance using completely randomized design model showed a significant difference (P<%1) among the populations for all of the estimated parameters. Total length of chromosomes varied from 87.3 micrometer in population of Najaf Abad to 238.3 micrometer in population of Badroud. The chromosome number was x = 9 for studied populations. P. miliaceum and S. italica were tetraploid and diploid, respectively. According to Stebbins classification, most of the populations placed in 1A and 2B class, indicating relative symmetrical karyotype.