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Observações citológicas em coffea: VIII- poliembrionia

Polyembryony, embryoless seeds and double embryo-sacs occur in the genus Coffea. Di- and tri-embryonate seeds have been met with in C. arabica, C. canephora. C. excelsa, C. liberica and a hybrid between C. arabica and C. canephora. In the variety bourbon the frequency, based on 9.453 seeds examined, was 0.8%. Embryoless seeds were seen in C. arabica var. bourbon, only; their frequency was 1.2%. Various cases of formation of double embryo-sacs were found in C. arabica L., with a frequency of 2,27%. Polyembryony here is probably a consequence of this phenomenon. A cytological examination of 72 seedlings raised from polyembryonic seeds or C. arabica L., including 3 triplets, 48 '.wins and 21 others whose mates were not examined, showed that all them had 2n = 44, this being the somatic number ot the species. Seedlings with half the number (2n = 22) of chromosomes of C. arabica L. were found and studied recently. Through the present investigation the author has not succeeded in linking the occurrence of such "di-haploids" with the occurrence of polyembryony.


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