Protocolo de caracterização cromossômica da flor de seda

Abstract

Flor de Seda is a perennial bushy plant that belongs to the Apocynaceae family, with the scientific name Calotropis procera (Aiton) W. T. Aiton, which can be found in several regions of Brazil, such as the Northeast, and has several applications in several areas, such as agriculture, civil construction, crafts and ethnomedicine, however, even with the different applications, there is still a lack of studies based on genetics, cytogenetics, and molecular biology focusing on this species, therefore this study aims to establish a chromosomal characterization protocol for C. procera. The present research was carried out at the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Piauí - Campus São João do Piauí (IFPI – Campus - São João do Piauí), located in the municipality of São João do Piauí, seeds were collected from two specimens of Calotropis procera, then subjected to three protocols of plant cytogenetics. One of the three protocols had a satisfactory effect regarding the presence of cells with observable chromosomes in relation to the others, this can be explained by the contact time of the plant samples with the enzymatic solution. It was found at the end of the study that adaptations are still needed in the protocol used so that it can efficiently assist in cytogenetic activities, such as assembly of karyotypes and idiograms.