CHROMOSOME-NUMBER IN GERMPLASM ACCESSIONS OF PASPALUM (PLICATULA GROUP) FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS IN BRAZIL

We determined the chromosome number of 52 accessions of Paspalum from the germplasm collection of the Centro de Pesquisa de Pecuaria do Sude ste (CPPSE/EMBRAPA) originating from different regions in Brazil. All accessions belonged to the Plicatula group, 13 of them being P. plicat ulum, three P. guenoarum, two P. yaguaronense, two P. compressifolium, one P. atratum, and 31 still unidentified Paspalum sp. Except for a P . yaguaronense accession that presented 2n=60, all the remaining ones presented 2n=40 chromosomes. This is the first report of the chromosom e number of P. atratum. Considering that the basic number for most spe cies in the genus Paspalum is x=10, the accessions analyzed are tetrap loids (2n=4x=40) and hexaploids (2n=6x=60).