| Comments |
P.113 top paragraph: "Table 2 lists the meiotic duration at 20˚C and the type of life history of 24 species of herbaceous plants. The average duration of meiosis in the nine annual species (39.2 h) is significantly shorter (P < 0.001) than in the 13 perennial species (133.9 h). Furthermore, the eight fastest meiotic divisions occurred in annual or facultative perennial species. The duration of meiosis in polyploid species is shorter than in their diploid ancestors (primary source Bennet & Smith 1972). To avoid possible error caused by the inclusion of polyploid species a second comparison was made using diploid species only. The mean duration of meiosis for the five diploid annual species (48.0 h) was significantly lower (P < 0.001) than that of the diploid perennial species (132.2 h). The results agree with the hypothesis that species with a short m.g.t (minimum generation time) should exhibit a short meiotic duration compared with species with a long m.g.t." |