Abstract B chromosomes are supernumerary, dispensable extra karyotypic component that show non-standard behavior of inheritance and lack the ability to undergo recombination or pairing with A chromosome. It is present in thousands of animal and plant species. The present piece of work investigates the effect of B chromosomes on the standard complement of Artemisia annua L. and its influence on chiasma frequency, pollen fertility etc. Among the B carrier PMCs, upto 3B chromosomes have been reported in Artemisia, however majority of PMCs possess 2B chromosomes. Further this work focuses on the differences in distribution of chiasma frequency between carrier and non-carrier plant at the same time between non-carrier and carrier PMCs of B carrier plants. B carrier plants are morphologically indistinguishable from non-carrier plants but there might be an endophenotypic effect on the plant. The carrier plants decipher higher chiasma frequency as comparison to non-carrier plants although it shows slight reduction in fertility because B chromosomes interact with the standard chromosomes. These chromosomes can play an important role in generating new allelic combinations and genome evolutionary process.
Keywords: Artemisia annua L. B chromosomes carrier and non-carrier plants chiasma frequency pollen fertility
