Ploidy Levels among Species in the ‘Oxalistuberosa Alliance’ as Inferred by Flow Cytometry

Ploidy levels among species in the Oxalis tuberosa alliance

Ploidy complicates the study of origins and evolution of the diverse Andean tuber crop, oca (Oxalis tuberosa). Eve Emshwiller (pp. 741-753) uses flow cytometry to survey ploidy levels and nuclear DNA contents to confirm that cultivated oca is octoploid. One of oca's putative progenitors was among two tetraploids found, whereas the remaining species were diploid.