Assessment of genetic diversity and variation of Robinia pseudoacacia seeds induced by short-term spaceflight based on two molecular marker systems and morphological traits

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is a forest legume that is highly valued as a honey plant and for its wood. We explored the effect of short-term spaceflight on development of R. pseudoacacia seedlings derived from seeds that endured a 15-day flight; the genetic diversity and variation of plants sampled from spacemutagenized seeds were compared to plants from parallel groundbased control seeds using molecular markers and morphological traits. In the morphology analysis, the space-mutagenized group had 4269 ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 11 (4): 4268-4277 (2012) Genetic diversity and variation of Robinia pseudoacacia apparent variation compared with the control group in morphological traits, including plant height, basal diameter, number of branches, branch stipular thorn length, branch stipular thorn middle width, leaflet vertex angle, and tippy leaf vertex angle. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) molecular marker analyses showed a slightly higher levels of genetic diversity in the space-mutagenized group compared to the control group. In the SRAP analysis, the space-mutagenized group had 115 polymorphic bands vs 98 in the controls; 91.27% polymorphic loci vs 77.78% in the controls; 1.9127 ± 0.2834 alleles vs 1.7778 ± 0.4174 in the controls; Nei's genetic diversity (h) was 0.2930 ± 0.1631 vs 0.2688 ± 0.1862 in the controls, and the Shannon's information index (I) was 0.4452 ± 0.2177 vs 0.4031 ± 0.2596 in the controls. The number of alleles was significantly higher in the space-mutagenized group. In the SSR analysis, the space-mutagenized group also had more polymorphic bands (51 vs 46), a greater percentage of polymorphic loci (89.47% vs 80.70%); h was also higher (0.2534 ± 0.1533 vs 0.2240 ± 0.1743), as was I (0.3980 ± 0.2069 vs 0.3501 ± 0.2412). These results demonstrated that the range of genetic variation in the populations of R. pseudoacacia increased after spaceflight. It also suggested that the SSR and SRAP markers are effective markers for studying mutations and genetic diversity in R. pseudoacacia. The data provide valuable molecular evidence for the effects of the space environment on R. pseudoacacia and may contribute to future spacebreeding programs involving forest trees.

From Classical Radiation to Modern Radiation: Past, Present, and Future of Radiation Mutation Breeding

“…1" cultivated by the Tasly group has a singleplant quality three times that of ordinary danshen, and its active ingredient content is significantly higher than that of the control (86). Yuan et al studied the variation frequency of mutated offspring derived from Robinia pseudoacacia seeds carried by the "Shijian 8" recoverable satellite and cultivated the new variety "hangci 4, " which showed a non-thorn trait (87).…”

How the space environment influences organisms: an astrobiological perspective and review

“…Available literature data strongly indicate that the space environment can also induce heritable and stable DNA changes in plants (both positive and negative mutations), resulting in genetically diverse strains (Table 1) (Cowles et al ., 1994; Dutcher et al ., 1994; Nechitailo et al ., 2005; He et al ., 2006; Liu et al ., 2008; Gao et al ., 2009; Wu et al ., 2010; Chengzhi, 2011; Dong et al ., 2012; Yuan et al ., 2012). In the course of a ‘Space-mutation breeding’ program, Chinese scientists sent seeds of crops, floriculture, vegetable, fruits, medicinal plants and forest trees to space (Xianfang et al ., 2004; He et al ., 2006; Liu et al ., 2008).…”

“…Yuan et al . (2012) observed higher levels of genetic diversity as determined by simple sequence repeat and sequence-related amplified polymorphism molecular marker analyses and also apparent variation in morphological traits (height, basal diameter, number of branches, leaflet vertex angle and tippy leaf vertex angle, among others) were observed in the space-mutagenized black locust plants ( Robinia pseudoacacia , a forest legume) from seeds that endured 15-day spaceflight compared to plants from parallel ground-based control seeds (Yuan et al ., 2012). Genetic diversities and variations have also been observed in 15-day space-exposed Acer Mono Maxim seedlings than ground control seedlings (Sun et al ., 2015).…”

Effect of Seed Spaceflight Storage on Tomato Fruit Quality and Peel/Pulp Mineral and Antioxidant Distribution

“…Previous investigations by Kahn and Stoffella [23] demonstrated tomato seed tolerance to long-term spaceflight storage. Contrarily, many studies indicating genetic mutation showed the development of oxidative stress both in seeds and mature plants [24][25][26][27][28][29][30].…”