Cytotaxonomic characterization of selected bittergourd, Momordica species.

Date

3-2000

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Biology

Major Course

Major in Systematics

College

College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Maria Fe Sangalang

Co-adviser

Liwayway M. Engle

Abstract

Three accessions of putatively different Momordica species were characterized based on their morphological, leaf epidermal and chromosomal data. TOT 4076 and TOT 4075 were wild and small fruited species whereas TOT 1299 was a cultivated species. The morphological characterization was done through field observations and measurements of vegetative and reproductive structures. Leaf imprinting and leaf clearing methods were used for the epidermal analysis and acetocarmine squash preparation of root tip cells was done for the somatic karyotype analysis. Results of the study revealed that the wild and cultivated species share much similar morphological and leaf epidermal characteristics. However, the frequency of occurrence of the epidermal structures were unstable and seemed to be affected by the environment. Lastly, the somatic karyotype analysis using some previous works for comparison, also revealed that based on morpho-chromosomal characterization, the wild and cultivated types still share much similar characteristics. Thus, it was concluded that due to the lack of sufficient distinguishing characters, the wild Momordica species observed cannot be considered as a separate species but may only be considered as a variety of the cultivated type.

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

Thesis

Document Type

Thesis

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