I have a very large collection of Adenium from all over the world and
am very active in hybridizing them. I have around five cultivars
which are very large in all their parts and I strongly suspect that
they may be tetraploids. I have just purchased a digital microscope
with all the trimmings and I have a scientific background although now
retired.

Can anybody put me in touch with a web site which would explain how to
prepare slides so that I can count chromosones or give me any info on
this.

Also all breeders of Adeniums have a compatability problem. Only
about 1 hand pollinated cross in 10 produces a seed pod. I would like
to check the viability of the pollen - again can anyone let me have
details how to do this?

In article , David in Venezuela wrote:
I have a very large collection of Adenium from all over the world and
am very active in hybridizing them. I have around five cultivars
which are very large in all their parts and I strongly suspect that
they may be tetraploids. I have just purchased a digital microscope
with all the trimmings and I have a scientific background although now
retired.

Can anybody put me in touch with a web site which would explain how to
prepare slides so that I can count chromosones or give me any info on
this.

I don't know about your digital microscope, but you usually need an
oil immersion lens to get a decent view of average chromosomes (say a
magnification of around 1000x). You will also need to stuff around
until you can find tissue at the right stage of development (flower
buds for meiosis; root tips or similar for mitosis).

Chemical treatment to "loosen" the tissue may be necessary before you
can get good squashes; and you'll probably need to stain the material
(though maybe you could get by with phase contrast). Also, chemical
treatments are often very useful to ensure a good yield of cells with
visible chromosomes in the tissue.

Go to your local library for old texts on botanical laboratory
techniques. Alternatively, google for word combinations such as
"chromosome counting methods/techniques".

Here's one result which jogged a few neurones for me!
http://www.sciencedirect.
com/science?
_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TC3-4FJXNGM-4&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=searc
h&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlV ersion=0&_userid=10&
md5=aaf667891832b726a2a188621bd9e070

Hmm... try that as http://tinyurl.com/2nbqaj

Also all breeders of Adeniums have a compatability problem. Only
about 1 hand pollinated cross in 10 produces a seed pod. I would like
to check the viability of the pollen - again can anyone let me have
details how to do this?

You can find a fair bit of stuff on the Internet if you google for the
words "pollen germination media" [not necessarily that specific
phrase]. Here's one recipe for a germination medium:
http://preuss.bsd.uchicago.edu/protocols/pgmedia.html

Here's another one:
http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/43/6/2177

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID