Duplications and Meiotic Behavior of the Chromosomes in Haploid Maize (Zea mays L.)

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Abstract
At meiotic prophase of haploid maize, the number of microsporocytes forming 10 univalents or no bivalents, was about 50% of the total 942 randomly selected cells. It was postulated that most of the duplicate factor inheritance, and perhaps also the triplicated and the quadruplicate factor inheritance in maize, are intrachromosomal. The frequent appearance of 10 univalents and the persistent chain-configurations of the infrequently formed bivalents at diakinesis constitute convincing evidence that modern maize is an alloploid with perhaps a basic chromosome number of 5. The evidence that 1 or 2 strayed chromosomes were associated, at the centromeres, with an independent spindle at 2nd meiotic metaphase, led to the conclusion that the spindle is of nuclear origin, probably in the centromeres of the chromosomes .