Re: Species Question
- Subject: Re: Species Question
- From: h*@open.org
- Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2002 19:38:21 -0800 (PST)
Glen:
>In the human species there has been (I think) the search for an
>"Eve" from which all other species could be traced. Is there, could
>there be, does the possibility exist, that there is such a species
>hosta?
If we could go back in time maybe a million years or more we might be
able to answer your question. Given hostas chromosome number of 60 it
almost certainly is an ancient amphidiploid, of either an
allotetraploid or allohexaploid nature. If we look at chromosome
numbers in other genera where there are large numbers of chromosmes we
see hexaploids and octoploids when we get up to the chromosome number
in hosta. Hostas could be a allotetraploid, but an allohexaploid
nature is also highly likely. To complicate matters more you can even
have allotetraploids that form amphidiploids. Polyploidy has been one
of the main evolutionarily means of speciation in plants. It is
possible that hostas could have undergone several different
polyploidization events during its development to the modern species
we see. A careful study might reveal data to support or not support
such a theory.
Joe Halinar
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