CHARACTERISTICS AND LOCATION OF HAE-III REPETITIVE SEQUENCES FAMILY IN HAEMANTHUS (SCADOXUS) KATHARINAE (AMARYLLIDACEAE)

A dispersed repetitive Hae III-family sequences in Haemanthus katharin ae, a monocotyledonous diploid species with very large genome (2C DNA= 117+/-2.24 pg) were characterized. The restriction pattern is similar in different tissues and organs (root meristems, leaves and endosperm) . This Hae III-family is represented by population of highly reiterate d fragments whose average sizes were estimated to be: p6 - 167 bp, p7 - 183 bp, p39 - 400 bp and p44 - 501 bp. The above fragments constitut e: p6 and p7 together 0.56% (3.26x10(5) copies), p39 1.62% (8.42x10(5) copies) and p44 0.28% (4.06x10(4) copies) of the haploid genome. Ther e is no distinct homology among these fragments. p39 and p44 fragments are characterized by high AT content: 68.0% and 64.3%, respectively, while in p6 it reaches 51.5% and 52.4% in p7. Internal sequence organi zation in p39 fragment revealed a number of short direct repeats. p44 homologous sequences are located uniformly over the mitotic chromosome s and interphase nuclei.