Cytogenetic Studies of Six Species in Family Araceae from Thailand

The chromosome numbers and karyotypes of six species belonging to five genera of the family Araceae distributed in natural areas from Thailand were analyzed. These species are Aglaonema modestum Schott ex Engl., Ag. simplex (Blume) Blume, Amorphophallus serrulatus Hett. & A. Galloway, Arisaema maxwellii Hett. & Gusman, Hapaline benthamiana Schott and Homalonema griffithii (Schott) Hook.f. Three of them (Ag. simplex, Am. serrulatus and Ar. maxwellii) are not common and endemic species in Thailand. The chromosome number and karyotypes of all species were determined as Ag. modestum 2n = 40 with karyotype to be 20m + 14sm + 6st, Ag. simplex 2n = 42 with karyotype to be 6m + 26sm + 10st, Am. serrulatus 2n = 26 with karyotype to be 12m + 6sm + 8st and two satellite chromosomes, Ar. maxwellii 2n = 24 with karyotype to be 22m + 2sm and two satellite chromosomes, Ha. benthamiana 2n = 26 with karyotype to be 26m and one satellite chromosome and Ho. griffithii 2n = 40 with karyotype to be 30m + 10sm and two satellite chromosomes. Karyotype analysis indicated that six species of family Araceae generally have metacentric, submetacentric and subtelocentric chromosomes. In addition, satellites were observed in Am. serrulatus, Ar. maxwellii, Ha. benthamiana and Ho. griffithii. The chromosome numbers from three species of them and karyotypes from five species of them in this study were determined for the first time in this study. These cytogenetic studies of this report can be used for classification of six species in the family Araceae.