Quantitative karyotyping of Norway spruce root meristems by image analysis methods and pattern recognition

Metaphase chromosomes of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) KARST.) root tips were prepared for quantitative karyotyping. Digital image analysis of chromosomes permitted fast and accurate measurement for the karyogram. One hundred spreads of Feulgen stained metaphase chromosomes were measured for total length, arm ratio, and localization of secondary constrictions. The data were subjected to t-test because of unequal variances. An expert-system that based on pattern recognition in the n(th) dimension was used to further analyze the data. The expert system routinely identified five of the twelve different metaphase chromosome pairs. The remaining seven chromosome pairs could be divided into two groups. Within the two groups it was not possible to distinguish individual chromosomes because of similarity in morphology.