BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) radiation damages the DNA, cells and photosynthetic apparatus of plants. Plants commonly prevent this damage by synthetizing UV-B-protective compounds. Recent laboratory experiments in Arabidopsis and cucumber have indicated that plants can also respond to UV-B stress with endopolyploidy. Here we test the generality of this response in natural plant populations, considering their monocentric or holocentric chromosomal structure. METHODS: We measured the endopolyploidy index (flow cytometry) and the concentration of UV-B-protective compounds in leaves of 12 herbaceous species (1007 individuals) from forest interiors and neighbouring clearings where they were exposed to increased UV-B radiation (103 forest + clearing populations). We then analysed the data using phylogenetic mixed models. KEY RESULTS: The concentration of UV-B protectives increased with UV-B doses estimated from hemispheric photographs of the sky above sample collection sites, but the increase was more rapid in species with monocentric chromosomes. Endopolyploidy index increased with UV-B doses and with concentrations of UV-B-absorbing compounds only in species with monocentric chromosomes, while holocentric species responded negligibly. CONCLUSIONS: Endopolyploidy seems to be a common response to increased UV-B in monocentric plants. Low sensitivity to UV-B in holocentric species might relate to their success in high-UV-stressed habitats and corroborates the hypothesized role of holocentric chromosomes in plant terrestrialization.

• Klíčová slova
• Endopolyploidy, UV-B-absorbing compounds, endoreduplication index, flow cytometry, holocentric chromosomes, monocentric chromosomes, natural population, ultraviolet radiation,
• MeSH
• Arabidopsis * MeSH
• chromozomy * MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• listy rostlin MeSH
• ultrafialové záření MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

BACKGROUND: The ability to eliminate a parental genome from a eukaryotic germ cell is a phenomenon observed mostly in hybrid organisms displaying an alternative propagation to sexual reproduction. For most taxa, the underlying cellular pathways and timing of the elimination process is only poorly understood. In the water frog hybrid Pelophylax esculentus (parental taxa are P. ridibundus and P. lessonae) the only described mechanism assumes that one parental genome is excluded from the germline during metamorphosis and prior to meiosis, while only second genome enters meiosis after endoreduplication. Our study of hybrids from a P. ridibundus-P. esculentus-male populations known for its production of more types of gametes shows that hybridogenetic mechanism of genome elimination is not uniform. RESULTS: Using comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) on mitotic and meiotic cell stages, we identified at least two pathways of meiotic mechanisms. One type of Pelophylax esculentus males provides supporting evidence of a premeiotic elimination of one parental genome. In several other males we record the presence of both parental genomes in the late phases of meiotic prophase I (diplotene) and metaphase I. CONCLUSION: Some P. esculentus males have no genome elimination from the germ line prior to meiosis. Considering previous cytological and experimental evidence for a formation of both ridibundus and lessonae sperm within a single P. esculentus individual, we propose a hypothesis that genome elimination from the germline can either be postponed to the meiotic stages or absent altogether in these hybrids.

• Klíčová slova
• Asexual propagation, Genomic in situ hybridization, Hemiclone, Hybridogenesis, Meiotic cycle, Rana esculenta,
• MeSH
• genom MeSH
• hybridizace genetická MeSH
• karyotypizace MeSH
• meióza * MeSH
• mitóza MeSH
• Ranidae genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• rozmnožování * MeSH
• srovnávací genomová hybridizace metody   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH