THE ORIGIN OF CHICKPEA (CICER-ARIETINUM L) - KARYOTYPE AND NUCLEAR-DNA AMOUNT

Karyotypic and feulgen microdensitometric measurements show that the most asymmetric karyotype is correlated with the lowest DNA amount and vice versa in seven annual species of Cicer. The 2C nuclear DNA amounts vary from 1.83 pg to 3.57 pg and the values within this range can be categorized into three groups, the means (1.83 pg, 2.59 pg, 3.41 pg) of which are separated by the regular intervals of 0.8 pg. The differences within the groups are insignificant while those between groups are significant, C reticulatum, which is considered to be progenitor species of C arietinum, differs from the latter in having two satellite pairs instead of one and 22.3 per cent less DNA content. The possibility of such concrete changes occurring during domestication, and the fact that C arietinum depicts uniform karyotype and DNA contents in its cultivars underlines the need to reconsider the issue of C reticulatum as the wild ancestor of C arietinum.