Correlation between flow cytometric determination of nuclear DNA content and chromosome number in somatic hybrids within Brassicaceae

Abstract
Fourty-one somatic hybrids from two species combinations, Brassica oleracea + B. campestris and B. napus + Eruca sativa, were analysed for chromosome number and nuclear DNA content. The DNA content was measured in a flow cytometer using two internal standards as references and when related to the chromosome number a correlation of 0.91 was found. The chromosome number of the hybrids could be determined with an accuracy of ±10% by using flow cytometry, and the smallest statistically significant difference in DNA content between two individuals was 0.23 pg DNA/cell.