polyploidy

[Dana Ann Dudle]

Hello,

I am going over some evolutionary theory in my plant bio class, and it
occurred to me that, although I know that polyploidy occurs much more
often in plant speciation events than in animals, I do not know *why* this
is true.  Is it a quality of the plant genome itself, or a result of
products similar to colchicine (that can prevent reduction-division during
meiosis) being more common in plant cells, or because of some other
factor?

Any leads (citations, etc.) on this topic would be appreciated!  

Thanks,
Dana
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Dana A. Dudle
Dept. of Biological Sciences
DePauw University
Greencastle, IN  46135
ddudle at depauw.edu
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