Abstract: The meiotic behavior of 10 taxa (nine species and one variety) of the genus Pinus was investigated using pollen mother cells (PMCs) to reveal the differentiation among karyotypes. Chromosome spreads were prepared by conventional squashing. The meiotic index and the average configuration were higher, whereas the frequency of aberrance (chromosomal bridges, fragments, or micronuclei) was lower, in all 10 taxa compared with other gymnosperms. The meiotic index, average configuration, and frequency of irregularity were found to be uniform among the species. It was shown that the genomes of the Pinus species investigated were highly stable, confirming results of previous mitotic analyses in this genus. However, slight differentiation of homologous chromosomes among genomes was revealed by analysis of meiotic configurations in Pinus nigra var. poiretiana. Quadrivalents were observed in 9.31% of PMCs in this species. This is the first time that quadrivalents have been observed in gymnosperms.

Key words: homologous chromosomes, irregularity, meioses, Pinus, pollen mother cell, quadrivalent