Colchicine mutagenesis is associated with substantial heritable variation in cotton

Abstract

Seedlings of the cotton cultivar Sicot 1 were treated with either 1%, 2% or 5% colchicine in lanolin which was topically applied to the apical meristem four days after emergence . Of 293 1%-treated seedlings 64 survived to produce fertile C, shoots which gave rise to 84 C2 single boll families . C2 and C3 generations were examined in field experiments for morphological variants and for a number of quantitative characters (yield components and fibre quality) . No morphological mutants were seen but considerable heritable variation for metrical characters of economic importance was detected . Of 18 extreme C2 families consisting of 54 C3 progenies, 19 were shown in a replicated spaced-plant trial to be significantly different to the Sicot 1 parental material for at least one (usually more) characters . The 222 C3 progenies of the 66 non-extreme C2 families were tested in an unreplicated plot experiment and at least 14 were suspected of exhibiting variation in metrical characters . Although no light has been shed on the mechanism responsible for the production of variants by this method, it is argued that the colchicine technique results in higher levels of genetic variation than found in commercial cultivars ; variation which can be readily exploited by cotton breeders .

Induction of Fertile Amphidiploids by Artificial Chromosome-doubling in Interspecific Hybrid between Dianthus caryophyllus L. and D. japonicus Thunb

“…In the APM treatment at 20 mg⋅l -1 , however, the survival rate of the carnation explants was relatively high. It has been reported that colchicine caused sideeffects, such as sterility, abnormal growth and morphology, chromosome losses or rearrangements and gene mutation in many species (Luckett 1989, Wan et al 1989. In contrast, APM seemed to be a more efficient chromosome-doubling agent than colchicine and could be considered to be a suitable alternative to colchicine (Sri Ramulu et al 1991).…”

“…Following the discovery by Blakeslee and Avery in 1937, colchicine has been successfully used to induce polyploids in various plant species such as barley (Gilbert and Patterson 1965); azalea (Pryor and Frazier 1968); Phalaenopsis (Griesbach 1981); Iris (Yabuya 1985); cotton (Luckett 1989); cranberry (Dermen and Henry 1994); cyclamen (Ishizaka andUematsu 1994, Takamura andMiyajima 1996) and Brachiaria brizantha (Pinheiro et al 2000). In carnation, tetraploids were artificially induced by the application of a drop of a colchicine solution on to the shoot tips (Yamaguchi and Kakei 1985).…”

Induction and identification of Stylosanthes guianensis tetraploids

“…In addition, induced polyploid breeding provides a wider germplasm base for breeding programs (Luckett, 1989;Aranada et al, 1997;Osborn et al, 2003;Shao et al, 2003;Thao et al, 2003;Comai, 2005;Omidbaigi et al, 2010). By preventing microtubule assembly and arresting spindle formation during mitosis, colchicine is conventionally and successfully used to induce chromosome doubling in the development of tetraploids (Takamura and Miyajima, 1996;Pinheiro et al, 2000;Nguyen et al, 2003;Petersen et al, 2003;Shao et al, 2003;Liu et al, 2007;Urwin et al, 2007).…”

Stability in chromosome number and DNA content in synthetic tetraploids of Lolium multiflorum after two generations of selection

“…In various studies on induced polyploidy, the regeneration of mixoploid plants has been reported as a major problem, since the genetic stability of these partial polyploids is unknown. Another aspect to be considered, and usually neglected, is the delayed effect of colchicine (LUCKETT, 1989), the main polyploidization agent used in grasses, which can lead to chromosomal losses and rearrangements with strong impacts on fertility (LUCKETT, 1989).…”