Tetraploidy - Definition and Overview

Polyploid (in Greek: πολλαπλόν - multiple) cells or organisms contain more than one copy (ploidy) of their chromosomes. Polyploidy occurs in animals but is especially common among flowering plants, including both wild and cultivated species. Wheat, for example, after millennia of hybridization and modification by humans, has strains that are diploid (two sets of chromosomes), tetraploid (four sets of chromosomes) with the common name of durum or macaroni wheat, and hexaploid (six sets of chromosomes) with the common name of bread wheat.

Polyploidy can be induced in cell culture by some chemicals: the best known is colchicine, which causes chromosome doubling.

See also

• biology
• genetics

External link

• Polyploidy on Kimball's Biology Pages (http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Polyploidy.html)

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