polyploid

adjective

(Gr. polys: many; eidos: shape) Describing a nucleus that contains more than two sets of chromosomes (see diploid) or a cell or organism containing such nuclei. For example, triploid plants have three sets of chromosomes and tetraploid plants have four. Polyploidy is far more common in plants than in animals; many crops, in particular, are polyploid (bread wheat, for example, is hexaploid, i.e. 6n). It can be induced chemically with colchicine. See also allopolyploid, autopolyploid.