New perspectives on the mechanisms of chromosome evolution in parasitic flowering plants

In an attempt to find any association between chromosomal characters and parasitism, a cytological study of parasitic flowering plants in Israel has been carried out. While no such association was found, evidence for three levels of chromosome evolution could be discerned: intra-chromosomal modifications, polyploidy per se, and genome restructuring in polyploids. Our conclusions may serve as a paradigm of the multiple pathways of chromosomal evolution in plants in general. (C) 2002 The Linnean Society of London.