Kentucky bluegrass is a facultative apomict which is propagated from seeds of variable genetic origins, ploidy levels and nuclear DNA contents. This study analyzes the variability of relative nuclear DNA content among cultivars and natural populations, and examines whether this variability is correlated with morphological traits. Relative nuclear DNA content (an indirect measure of chromosomal variability) was determined in 281 plants from 28 accessions (17 cultivars, 11 populations) using flow cytometry of DAPI-stained nuclei. The same plants were also measured for leaf area and stomatal length. Variation of measured relative DNA content between the studied accessions was very high (5.5-fold). Intra-accession variation was very high in six accessions, even though three of these were cultivars. Relative nuclear DNA content was correlated with stomatal length but not with leaf area. The lack of correlation with leaf area might explain why high intra-accession variability of nuclear DNA content was found in released cultivars that had passed uniformity testing during the registration procedure. We suggest that nuclear DNA content measurement should be made part of the cultivar registration process
Spatial distribution and genetic variation of a population of Sorbus chamaemespilus (L.) Crantz and putative hybrids between S. chamaemespilus, S. aria and S. aucuparia growing in the nature reserve Skalnä Alpa (central Slovakia) were studied. The analysis of spatial patterns using Ripley's K-function revealed a significant clustering of the adults of both S. chamaemespilus and hybrid taxa at distances up to ~15 m and a strong affinity between both taxonomical groups, indicating similar ecological requirements. Bivariate point-pattern analysis considering cardinal direction showed that juvenile individuals of S. chamaemespilus are clustered around the adults up to the distance of ~2 m, whereas in hybrid taxa with larger and more dense crowns, juveniles are clustered at distances more than ~3 m from the adults. The analysis of genetic variation in a subset of adult shrubs using 4 nuclear microsatellite loci revealed that unlike expected, there was no variation in S. chamaemespilus but several genotypes were found in the group of hybrid taxa. Implications for the reproduction system and conservation of the investigated taxa are discussed.