Karyotype traits in Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh) Dunal (Asteraceae), an invasive plant in Romania

The description of the karyotype features and idiogram in Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh) Dunal (Asteraceae), an invasive plant in Romania, are reported here for the first time. The diploid chromosome number is 2n=2x=12, in agreement with the data published for the other species of the genus. The karyomorphological data show that the complements of the studied genotypes have small chromosomes (mean chromosome length is X̅±SE=2.56±0.10 μm, and mean length of haploid complements is X̅±SE=15.33±0.69 μm, with a range of variability comprised between 12.87-17.51 μm). The karyotypes are made up of six pairs of metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes, with an identical formula of the diploid complement: KF=2n=12=8m+ 2sm + 2sm-SAT. Satellites are located on the short arms of the chromosomes of pair III. The karyotypes show a relatively high level of intra-specific uniformity as well as similar symmetry patterns (R=1.29-1.53; TF%=38.78-41.57%; AsI%=54.54-57.61%; A1 = 0.24- 0.32; A2=0.08-0.16), belonging to 1A and 2A classes of symmetry. The small size of the chromosomes, the presence of only two chromosome morphometric types, and the preponderance of metacentrics confer a relatively high degree of symmetry to the karyotypes studied.