Our understanding of the potential mechanisms driving the spread and naturalization of alien plant species has increased over the past decades, but specific knowledge on the factors contributing to their increased impact in the introduced range is still urgently needed. The native European plant Centaurea stoebe occurs as two cytotypes with different life histories (monocarpic diploids, allo-po...

Common wheat (Triticum aestivum) has for decades been a textbook example of the evolution of a major crop species by allopolyploidization. Using a sophisticated extension of the PCR technique, we have successfully isolated two single-copy nuclear genes, DMC1 and EF-G, from each of the three genomes found in hexaploid wheat (BA(u)D) and from the two genomes of the tetraploid progenitor Triticum ...

It is shown how linear genetic algebras, ordinarily applied in situations with discrete time, will also simplify certain systems of differential equations in time continuous models. These models describe the variation of genotype frequencies in infinite populations in different mating systems. The cases considered include matings between individuals randomly drawn from the population at each mo...

The flavonoids of two diploid species of Phlox and two of their allotetraploid derivatives were characterized. The tetraploids accumulate five flavonoids not observed in the parental species. Generally, novel compounds are less highly glycosidated than, but otherwise similar to, parental compounds that they partially or totally replace. We propose that hybridity and polyploidy have repressed or...

The effect of the gene dosage on the expression of rRNAs was studied in Hypericum perforatum. The methylation levels of rDNA were analysed using the isoschizomers MspI and HpaII and eleven additional methylation-sensitive enzymes. No differences in rDNA methylation were observed between diploids and tetraploids at an early ontogenetic stage.

Most cancer cells accumulate genomic abnormalities at a remarkably rapid rate, as they are unable to maintain their chromosome structure and number. Excessively short telomeres, a known source of chromosome instability, are observed in early human-cancer lesions. Besides telomere dysfunction, it has been suggested that a transient phase of polyploidization, in most cases tetraploidization, has ...