Chromosome numbers in Australian charophytes (Characeae, Charophyceae)

Over the course of a 25 year ecological and taxonomic study, the chromosomes of Australian charophytes (family Characeae) were examined and enumerated. The usual number for members of Chara was n = 14 (for dioecious species) or n = 28 (for monoecious species); although Chara braunii has always been recorded as having n = 14 despite being monoecious. Species in sections Agardhia and Grovesia often had higher ploidy levels [n = 3 x 14 (42), n = 4 x 14 (56)]. The usual number for Australian members of Nitella was n = 9 (for dioecous species) and n = 18, 24 or 27 for monoecious species. Nitella stuartii was an exception, having n = 15 in the specimens studied here. The usual number for monoecious members of Lamprothamnium was n = 28; although, monoecious Lamprothamnium inflatum consistently had n = 14 (populations from Western Australia, Kangaroo Island and South Australia). Chromosome numbers were different for each species of Tolypella examined (n = 11 to 36). There was a high degree of polyploidy within Characeae, and there was evidence that even the lowest numbers of chromosomes represented polyploids (3n for Nitella and 2n for Chara). Polyploidy and consequent doubling or tripling of enzymatic capacity (via potential multiple isozymes) is likely to have a role in the morphological variability and biochemical flexibility of charophytes. Information about the number and appearance of chromosomes (karyotypes) can be used in systematic studies to determine relatedness of taxa and to understand some of the evolutionary processes operating at the population or species level. © 2015 International Phycological Society