ABSTRACT
The number and intensity of efforts to gather fundamental knowledge about the genomes of onion and related species are increasing rapidly. Investigators working with onion chromosomes recognize the danger of increasing confusion. Moreover, such an agreement is essential for any communication concerning homoeology relationships between the genomes of Allium cepa and its relatives. An international workshop about onion chromosome nomenclature and homoeology relationships, was held at The University of Warwick, Coventry, UK on September 8, 1988 on the occasion of the Fourth Eucarpia Allium Symposium. With the support of I. Schubert and R. K. J. Narayan, the workshop agreed that the chromosome nomenclature proposed by E. R. Kalkman in Genetica 65, 141-148, 1984 should be considered the standard system of nomenclature for the chromosomes of Allium cepa. The only chromosomes known to be homoeologous to date are the nucleolar organizing ones in Allium cepa and Allium fistulosum.
