Karyological and cytogenetic research of the conifers of boreal zone by classic and new methods

Aim. Establishing of karyological features and conducting of cytogenetic analysis on conifer plants for biological diversity studies, solving of problems of taxonomics, evolutionary and population genetics. Methods. Classic methods with acetohematoxylin staining of slides and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Results. More than 150 populations and provenances of representatives of different conifer genera from the Pinaceae and Cupressaceae families were studied. The studies were carried out in natural populations and during the introduction, in optimal and extreme conditions, in disturbed ecosystems, botanical gardens and parks; in addition, various intraspecific forms have been studied. The variability of chromosome numbers and a wide range of chromosomal mutations have been revealed. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with the 45S and 5S ribosomal RNA gene probes and DAPI staining allows to identify of homologous chromosome pairs in the karyotypes of conifers and to facilitate the comparative karyotype analysis of these species. Conclusions. The studies of chromosomes in species of the Pinaceae and Cupressaceae families showed a karyotypic diversity and chromosomal anomalies in extreme conditions and under introduction. The use of molecular cytogenetic markers made it possible to obtain new information on the structure of conifer chromosomes. Keywords: chromosomes, nucleolar loci, chromosome mutations, Pinaceae, Cupressaceae.