Chromosome number and genome size in Atriplex mollis from southern Tunisia and Atriplex lanfrancoi from Malta (Amaranthaceae)

In this work, we investigated the chromosome number and genome size of two Mediterranean Amaranthaceae species, namely Atriplex mollis from southern Tunisia and A. lanfrancoi (formerly Cremnophyton lanfrancoi ) from Malta. The two species were found to be diploid (2 n = 18) for all examined populations. This result is different from that previously reported for Cremnophyton lanfrancoi Brullo and Pavone (2 n = 20). Genome size showed that both species have a close mean amount with 2 C = 3.41 and 3.51 pg, respectively. Two groups were distinguished with regard to genome size ( P