Cytophotometric and biochemical characterization of Posidonia oceanica L (Potamogetonaceae) genome

The genome of Posidonia oceanica (Potamogetonaceae) was studied at cytophotometric and biochemical level. P. oceanica is an important species for food web in the Mediterranean basin where it occupies very large prairies. It is also an important biological indicator of mercury contamination. Cytophotometric analyses showed that this species has a basic (4C) genome size of 11.16 pg DNA. Biochemical analyses were made to establish genome composition in terms of highly and medium repeated and unique sequences. Melting profiles and CsCl density gradient of DNA extracted from leaves indicated the presence of a large A-T rich satellite DNA.