Spontaneous Inversion Heterozygotes in Aloe barbadensis Mill.

Aloe is a genus of the family Liliaceae, containing about 500 species (Gunjan and Roy 2010). Aloe barbadensis Mill. is one of the most important medicinal plant species and widely cultivated throughout the world. It is a xerophytic, succulent, perennial herb with fleshy leaves arising in a rosette from a short stem. Its leaves are used in various skin diseases and diabetes. The chromosome number is n=7 and the size of the chromosomes is comparatively large. There have been very few studies on spontaneous inversion heterozygosity in Aloineae (Brandham 1975, 1977 a, b). In the present investigation, an inversion heterozygote was discovered, which was subsequently confirmed on the basis of presence of bridges and fragments at anaphase I/II.