Cytogenetic stability of Centaurea ragusina long-term culture

Abstract

Centaurea ragusina L. (Asteraceae) is an endemic Croatian plant species, which developed xeromorphic characteristics as a consequence of its natural environment -vertical limestone cliffs above the Adriatic sea. Cytogenetic status of C. ragusina long-term culture (94th subculture) and C. ragusina seedlings was analysed and compared after 4 weeks of growth. Cytogenetic stability was investigated in root meristem cells of C. ragusina cultured plants originated from Pend -a (cliffs near Dubrovnik) and seedlings originated from three different localities in south Adriatic (Pend -a, Pasjacˇa -cliffs near Dubrovnik and island of Komizˇa) using mitotic index and mitotic and chromosomal abnormalities as parameters. Mitotic indices of cultured plants and 'Pend -a' seedlings were similar and showed significant increase compared to mitotic indices of 'Komizˇa' and 'Pasjacˇa' seedlings. Although the highest number of mitotic abnormalities was recorded in root meristem cells of cultured plants, it was only a bit higher than in root tips of 'Pasjacˇa' and 'Pend -a' seedlings, while that of 'Komizˇa' was two times lower compared to cultured plants. Pattern of analysed mitotic abnormalities was very similar in root tips of cultured plants and 'Pasjacˇa' and 'Pend -a' seedlings, with exception of 'Komizˇa' seedlings. Presented results suggest that long-term cultivation of C. ragusina has almost no effect on culture ageing considering similar distribution of scored mitotic abnormalities as in 'Pend -a' and 'Pasjacˇa' seedlings.

Cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of endemic Centaurea fenzlii Reichardt on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line

“…Many Centaurea species are used traditionally for medicinal purposes, including Centaurea pulchella, Centaurea drabifolia, Centaurea triumfettii, Centaurea depressa, and Centaurea virgate. Various biological activities of the members of the genus Centaurea L. have been reported previously, such as cytogenetic (Radic et al, 2005), antiinflammatory (Garbacki et al, 1999;Erel et al, 2011Erel et al, , 2014, anticancer , and cytotoxic activities (Seghiri et al, 2009;Ahmed and Kamel, 2014). The chemical composition of the members of this genus was also reported in other studies (Dural et al, 2003;Beltagy, 2015).…”

In vitro propagation of the endangered plant Centaurea ultreiae: assessment of genetic stability by cytological studies, flow cytometry and RAPD analysis

“…However, this enhances the probability of cell mutations and the genetic instability of regenerated plants (Bairu et al 2006), in a process known as somaclonal variation (Larkin and Scowcroft 1981), and makes assessment of the genetic fidelity of the regenerants necessary, by e.g., the use of molecular markers. Genetic changes may occur at cellular and (more frequently) at ploidy levels, such as in chromosome structure (Radić et al 2005), or at molecular levels, with punctual mutations in DNA. Nowadays, traditional cytological studies are complemented by flow cytometry, which together enable the study of large amounts of cells and reliable and accurate assessment of any change in ploidy (Loureiro et al 2006) and can be used to test the stability of in vitro regenerants.…”

Genetic fidelity assessment in micropropagated plants using cytogenetical analysis and heterochromatin distribution: a case study with Nepenthes khasiana Hook f.

“…Substantial changes in both number and structure of chromosomes were detected in plants of four different wheat cultivars and celery regenerated via somatic embryogenesis (Karp and Maddock 1984). Similarly, chromosomal abnormalities have been detected in several other micropropagated plants derived from organized meristem (Rao et al 1992;Gupta 1998;Radic et al 2005;Mujib et al 2007). …”

“…Changes in chromosome number are more common, but structural chromosome changes have been observed with high frequency in some species (Joachimiak et al 1993). Chromosomal variations have been reported in various tissue-culture-derived plant species and their progenies (Gupta 1998;Kaeppler et al 2000;Radic et al 2005). The degree of chromosomal instability in tissueculture-derived plants is influenced by repetitive sequences located in the heterochromatin, which varies from one species to another (Gupta 1998).…”