Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

bird-nird t1_jbi1avq wrote

So plants don't have centrioles (I think that's right? I'm a plant ecologist not a geneticist) and as a result, the chromosomal number doesn't matter as much. Because of this, many plants are polyploid - they can be diploid, triploid, or even tetraploid, with additional chromosomal replicates believed to confer some advantages in specific conditions, depending on the species. You could, then, have a triploid plant with an odd number of chromosomes.

EDIT: Apparently fertility in triploid plants is greatly reduced, which I was unaware of, though reproduction is possible: https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/51/8/article-p968.xml#:~:text=Triploids%20are%20typically%20highly%20infertile,et%20al.%2C%202011).

64

Jkarofwild t1_jbj8fkh wrote

Is that what causes that? I knew that many plant species had a ridiculous number of redundant chromosomes, but I didn't know it was because of a leak of centrioles. How do the cells separate the DNA during cell division, then?

6

exitpursuedbybear t1_jbk34xf wrote

Not only that but plants can have different numbers of chromosomes in different parts of the plants due to inaccurate cell wall growth after cell division. It’s how we got seedless grapes, naval oranges and pink grapefruit.

4

Mythicalnematode t1_jbllzz0 wrote

Hello fellow plant ecologist! Also not a geneticist but aren’t triploid plants sterile? They can’t evenly split their chromosomes during meiosis.

2

bird-nird t1_jblntl6 wrote

Well, it looks like you are right - I apologize, I was not aware that triploids are generally sterile. Apparently they can reproduce but it's not as common: https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/51/8/article-p968.xml#:~:text=Triploids%20are%20typically%20highly%20infertile,et%20al.%2C%202011).

3

bird-nird t1_jblnvvc wrote

It now makes sense why I've heard of triploidy in Aspen in particular, as they are clonal species :)

3