Cytotaxonomy study of four populations of Astragalus anserinifolius Boiss. of section Malacothrix Bunge from Iran

In this research, meiotic chromosome number and the behavior of four populations of astragalus anserinifolius boiss. of astragalus sect. malacothrix were studied. all wild populations were diploid and showed 2n=2x=16 chromosome number, consistent with the proposed base number of x=8 from ipcn. although all taxa displayed regular bivalent pairing and chromosome segregation at meiosis, some meiotic abnormalities included varied degrees of fragmented and sticky chromosomes in metaphase i, polynucleate and a variable number of laggards, forwarded chromosomes and bridges in anaphase i/telophase i, asynchronous nucleus and precocious chromosome migration in metaphase ii and laggards, bridges and cytomixis in anaphase ii/telophase ii were observed