Effective Diploidization of Microspore-Derived Haploids of Rape (Brassica napus L.) by In Vitro Colchicine Treatment

A technique for the in vitro colchicine treatment of microspore-derived haploids of rape (Brassica napus L.) is presented. This allows effective and time-saving chromosome doubling. The most effective method consists of an application of 50 mg/1 colchicine in a liquid B5 medium to the rooted micro-spore-derived plantlets for 4–8 days. By this treatment more than 50 % of the plants developed at least diploid sectors. A change of medium after some days may even increase this diploidization rate.     

Efficient Production of Doubled Haploid Plants through Chromosome Doubling of Isolated Microspores in Brassica napus

Three methods of chromosome doubling to produce doubled haploid plants from microspore cultures of Brassica napus were compared: colchicine treatment of microspore-derived plants, microspore-derived embryos, and isolated microspores. In the whole plant treatment, 53% of the treated plants set seed, but the treatment delayed plant growth and reduced seed set. When microspore-derived embryos were treated with colchicine, the doubling frequency was 32% (compared to 15% for spontaneous doubling). Direct colchicine treatment of isolated microspores resulted in a doubling efficiency of 70 % of the whole plants. This treatment also stimulated embryogenesis in microspore culture, leading to increased plant regeneration. Thus, direct chromosome doubling of isolated microspores is efficient and more than 10 000 doubled haploid plants have been produced in this manner in the past three years in order to accelerate the plant-breeding process.     

Spontaneous and induced chromosome doubling in gynogenic lines of onion (Allium cepa L.)

The presence of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) or naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 6-benzyladenine (6—BA) in the medium is required to induce an acceptable yield of gynogenic embryos from unfertilized ovary and flower cultures in onion. Four different exposure times of ovary and flower cultures to exogenous growth regulators (15, 30, and 45 days, and the entire culture period) were assayed. The objective was to ascertain the effect of these substances and of their period of application on the formation of gynogenic embryos and on the yield of haploids. An exposure of 15 days was sufficient for ovaries and flowers to be stimulated towards the gynogenic response, whereas, for the remaining period of 30—80 days, the pro-embryos could easily grow on a growth-regulator-free medium. In the gynogenic material obtained, phenotypic differences were visible between genetically independent lines but not between plants within each line, even when they had a different ploidy level (n or 2n). Almost all lines obtained by gynogenesis were sterile. Only a small percentage (1%) became fertile through spontaneous chromosome doubling, and these produced 2—20 seeds each, giving normal plants. The recovery of fertility occurred more often during the generations of bulbils. To exploit this natural propensity towards diploidization in this phase, different amounts and numbers of applications of colchicine were evaluated in two experiments. The treatments corresponding to 10 and 100 mg/1 of colchicine applied for 24h gave the highest number of diploid cells in root tips but no diploidization occurred in the shoot apices. Three days of colchicine treatment at 10 mg/1 produced 46% of plants completely diploid in the shoot apex. The flower fertility of these doubled haploid plants is being evaluated.     

RAPD analysis of sporting and chimerism in chrysanthemum

Summary The potential of colchicine and the microtubule depolymerizing herbicides trifluralin, oryzalin, and amiprophosmethyl (APM) for in vitro chromosome doubling during B. napus microspore culture was studied. Colchicine was administered during the first 6, 12 or 24 h of culture with 8 different concentrations up to 3 mM, and herbicides at 6 different concentrations up to 30 M for 12 h.Treatments with moderate concentrations of colchicine (3–100 M) produced a small increase in embryo production, while concentrations above 300 M were toxic. Colchicine treatment for 12 h resulted in higher embryo production than treatment for 6 and 24 h. Duration of treatment and concentration of colchicine both had a significant effect on the chromosome doubling. The highest diploidization rates (94% diploid regenerants) were seen after 24 h treatment with 1 mM colchicine.All three herbicides were similar to colchicine in terms of their effect on embryo formation and chromosome doubling comparable to the one of colchicine, but at concentrations approximately 100 times lower. APM was less toxic than trifluralin and oryzalin, but no significant difference in chromosome doubling efficiency was detected between the compounds. The 12 h treatment resulted in a maximum of approximately 65% diploid regenerants with all three herbicides, but APM may have an advantage because of its less toxic effects. Prolonged treatment with APM (20–24 h) may produce 95–100% diploid regenerants.Abbreviations APM amiprophos methyl - DMSO dimethyl sulfoxide     

Increasing embryogenesis and doubling efficiency by immediate colchicine treatment of isolated microspores in spring Brassica napus

The effect of colchicine on induction of embryogenesis andchromosome doubling during microspore culture was evaluated in twoF₁ hybrids of spring oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Immediatecolchicine treatment of isolated microspores with the concentrations 50 and500 mg/L for 15 h stimulated embryogenesis and produced largeamounts of healthy-looking embryos. These normal embryos germinatedwell at 24 ^°C after being transferred to solid regeneration mediumand an initial period of low temperature (2 ^°C) for 10 days, andcould directly and rapidly regenerate vigorous plants. A high doublingefficiency of 83–91% was obtained from 500 mg/L colchicinetreatment for 15 h with low frequency of polyploid and chimeric plants.The present experiment showed that a treatment duration of 30 h revealedless positive effects on embryogenesis and doubling efficiency, especially athigher colchicine concentration (1000 mg/L). Poor embryogenesis andembryo germination were observed from ordinary microspore culturewithout change of induction medium and colchicine treatment, and severalsubcultures were required for induction of secondary embryogenesis andplant regeneration.     

Improved doubled haploid production protocol for Brassica napus using microspore colchicine treatment in vitro and ploidy determination by flow cytometry

A rapid and efficient microspore culture protocol was applied to produce homozygous progeny of crosses between low erucic canola and high erucic resynthesized rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). Microspores of Canadian cultivars ‘Excel’ and ‘Profit’ as well as three F₁ hybrids with the resynthetic line ‘RS239’ were treated with colchicine immediately after isolation. Flow cytometry was applied for early identification of doubled haploid (DH) regenerants. The diploidization rate was subsequently verified by scoring flower morphology. In vitro colchicine treatment had a positive effect on induced diploidization, and was associated with the frequency of preliminary spontaneous diploidization which was, however, determined by the genotype. In addition, the effects of colchicine treatment on embryoid formation and regeneration have been evaluated. The method presented is feasible for commercial large‐scale production of DHs in rapeseed as the genotype‐specific diploidization can be efficiently balanced by in vitro colchicine treatment. In addition, the use of flow cytometry immediately after in vitro culture allows efficient selection for DHs, thus saving labour and cost and in the laboratory and subsequent greenhouse phase.     

Induction of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anthurium andraeanum</Emphasis> “Arizona” tetraploid by colchicine in vitro

Tetraploids plants of Anthurium andraeanum “Arizona” were successfully induced after treating diploid tissue masses with colchicine. Masses originating from diploid aerial roots were treated with colchicine at three different concentrations (i.e., 0.1, 0.2, 0.3%) for about 3, 5 and 7 h, and then were transferred into Murashige and Skoog medium containing 3 mg/l BAP + 0.2 mg/l 2,4-D. After 60 days, the survival rate and numbers of regenerative shoots were scored. The high concentration and longer duration sharply reduced survival rate. In contrast, the regeneration of plantlets was not noticeably affected by colchicine. Tetraploid plants were obtained in all treatments, but the percentage of induced tetraploids ranged from 0.2 to 7.6%. The best induction was obtained with a 5-h, treatment with 0.3% colchicine. The stomatal size of tetraploid plants was larger than in diploid plants; however, the stomatal density was lower than in diploid plants. Tetraploid plants possessed stronger petioles, thicker and deeper green leaves, and thicker and longer lived spathes in comparison with diploid plants. Abnormal spathes, such as double spathes or those lacking pedicels, were observed in tetraploid plants. Tetraploid plantlets could be regenerated via aerial roots; this technique could be applied to tetraploid plant propagation.     

In vitro chromosome doubling with colchicine during microspore culture in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Isolated microspores of two DH lines of wheat were treated with 8 different colchicine concentrations up to 3 mM for either 24 h or 48 h during microspore culture. Untreated control cultures produced on average 220 embryos per spike (100,000 microspores), 68% of the regenerated plantlets were green, and 15% of the flowering plants were fertile. The colchicine treatments had a significant effect on chromosome doubling as measured by the percentage of fertile regenerants. Using colchicine concentrations around 1 mM the percentage of fertile plants among the regenerants was increased up to 53%. The highest number of embryos and regeneration rates were observed after 24 h colchicine treatment, while the highest frequencies of green plants and fertile plants were obtained with 48 h colchicine treatments. The highest number of DH plants per spike was found after treatment with colchicine concentrations of 300 to 1000 μM. Such treatments resulted in an estimated average between the two genotypes of 23 doubled haploid plants per spike. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Chromosome doubling of mature haploid Brussels sprout plants by colchicine treatment

Summary The effect of colchicine concentration, and the mode and time of colchicine application in doubling the chromosomes of haploid Brussels sprout plants was assessed by scoring treated plants for the presence of diploid flowers and seed set after self-pollination.When colchicine treatments were applied after the plants had been vernalised, using 2 dose rates and 3 methods of application, only 38.1% became doubled and only 13.8% produced seed. Treatment with 0.1% colchicine with or without the addition of 2% dimethyl sulphoxide gave doubling rates similar to those reached with 0.05% colchicine, but resulted in more damage to the apices.When 0.05% colchicine solution was injected into the plants' apices at varying times during vernalisation, the rate of doubling was 71.2% on average and 50.7% of plants gave seed on selfing.Overall doubling rates of plants where the apex was easily accessible were 79.0%, while for plants with dense terminal heads they were 35.0% and for plants with visible buds 31.4%.     

In vitro induction of tetraploids in Phlox subulata L.

Tetraploid plants of Phlox subulata L. were induced successfully by treating shoot tips in vitro with colchicine. Shoot tips excised from in vitro shoots were treated with four different concentrations of colchicine (0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.04%) in solid MS medium supplemented with 4.54 μM TDZ and 0.49 μM IBA for 10, 20 or 30 days, respectively. The survival rates of shoots tips were affected by the concentration of colchicine and the duration of treatment. High concentration and longer duration reduced survival of the shoot tips, but the effect of duration of colchicine was more than that of concentration. Tetraploid plants were obtained in all of the treatments, but the percentages of tetraploids varied among different treatments, from 25.0% to 75.0%. The most efficient condition for inducing tetraploids was to treat shoot tips with 0.005% colchicine for 20 days, with 30.0% survival rate of shoot tips and 6 tetraploid plants out of 10 plants examined. The rooted tetraploid plants were transplanted successfully in a solar greenhouse. Under the same growing condition, significant varieties in flower bud and flower sizes were detected between 2x and 4x plants. The flower diameters of tetraploid and diploid plants were 2.91 cm and 2.24 cm, respectively.     

Amphidiploids between Cyclamen persicum Mill. and C. purpurascens Mill. induced by treating ovules with colchicine in vitro and sesquidiploids between the amphidiploid and the parental species induced by conventional crosses

Summary We cultured colchicine-treated hybrid ovules in vitro to produce fertile amphidiploids of C. persicum (2n=2x=48. referred to as AA) × C. purpurascens (2n=2x=34, referred to as BB). Seedlings and mature plants were obtained from the ovules without colchicine and those exposed to 50 mg/l colchicine for 5, 10 and 15 days, whereas they were not obtained from the ovules exposed to 50 mg/l colchicine for 20 days and 500 mg/l for 5, 10, 15 and 20 days. Although 8 mature hybrids derived from the ovules without colchicine produced a few fertile pollen grains, they failed to produce viable seeds by self-fertilization. The hybrids had 41 somatic chromosomes. Four and 3 mature plants were derived from ovules exposed to 50 mg/l colchicine for 10 and 15 days, respectively. One each among 4 and 3 mature plants showed a high frequency of pollen grain fertility, produced several seeds by self-fertilization, and had 82 somatic chromosomes which is twice the number of hybrid chromosomes (2n=41, AB). These findings indicated that these plants are amphidiploids (2n=82, AABB) between C. persicum and C. purpurascens. Three and 2 viable seeds were derived by the conventional crosses of diploid C. persicum × the amphidiploid and the amphidiploid × C. purpurascens, respectively. Flowering plants that developed from the seeds of diploid C. persicum × the amphidiploid were barely fertile and had 65 somatic chromosomes (2n=65, AAB), whereas those that developed from the seeds of the amphidiploid × C. purpurascens were barely fertile and had 58 somatic chromosomes (2n=58, ABB). The somatic chromosomes indicated that these plants are probably sesquidiploids between the amphidiploid and either C. persicum or C. purpurascens. The interspecific cross-breeding of cyclamen using the amphidiploids and the sesquidiploids is discussed.     

The production and behaviour of hexaploid hybrids between Hordeum vulgare and H. Bulbosum

Summary To produce hexaploid (or other polyploid) hybrids, diploid or tetraploid Hordeum vulgare was crossed with hexaploid or octoploid H. bulbosum, and perennial triploid hybrids between the two species were treated with colchicine. The crosses did not yield viable plants: seedset was low, the seed aborted and embryo culture was unsuccessful. The colchicine treatments geve rise to plants in which hexaploid chromosome numbers were observed. At the hexaploid level chromosomal instability occurred, resulting in chromosome elimination.The colchicine-treated triploid hybrids showed in the first years after the treatment better fertility after open flowering than untreated plants, but the level of fertility remained very low. The offspring consisted of haploid, diploid and approximately triploid plants like H. vulgare, tetraploid and approximately tetraploid plants like H. bulbosum, and plants with hybrid morphology and unstable chromosome number, which were highly sterile. Thus the crossing barrier between H. vulgare and H. bulbosum could not be broken down at higher ploidy level.     

Regeneration of dihaploid chicory (Cichorium intybus L. var. foliosum Hegi) via microspore culture

In order to develop fully inbred chicory plants, dihaploid plants were raised from callus derived from microspores of three selected Witloof, Robin and Treviso types. Microspores were isolated from florets containing pollen at the uninuclear state and cultured in a modified MS medium plus 0.5mg/l 2,4-D, 0.5mg/l IAA and 2.0mg/l zeatin. During culture periods of up to 6 months, gametoplasts emerged from pollen grains, divided and started to form colonies and calli. These were subcultured on the same basal medium supplemented with 0.5mg/l BA and 0.5mg/l IAA. Shoot growth was enhanced on a low salt-containing medium supplemented with 0.4mg/l kinetin and 0.2mg/l IAA. Shoots were rooted on a half-strength Lepoivre medium plus 0.2mg/l IBA and finally transferred to soil. Florets were excised from 34 capitula, but only microspores from four of them developed into plants via callus. More than 450 plants were raised in the greenhouse and the field. Leaves from these plants were subjected to DNA fluorescence analysis via flow cytometry: a range of ploidy levels was detected. The cell composition of 44 of these plants was predominantly haploid, with a diploid background. Regenerant plant phenotypes were compared with the parent genotypes. The value of such haploids in commercial chicory breeding is discussed.     

Isolation and characterisation of somatic hybrids of diploid Solanum tuberosum and Solanum brevidens and the use of amylose-free starch mutation for detection of introgression

Summary Somatic hybrids of diploid amylose-free (amf) Solanum tuberosum and diploid S. brevidens were made by Poly-Ethylene-Glycol (PEG) or electrofusion methods. For the isolation of interspecific hybrids the use of selection markers (kanamycin and hygromycin resistance) was useful but not essential. In this 2x+2x interspecific combination 4x and 6x somatic hybrids were obtained. Seed set was the best in 4x×4x (S. tuberosum) backcrosses, but seed germination was the best in 6x×4x combinations, using in vitro germination of unripe seeds harvested 25 days after pollination. A high degree of pollen stainability (30–40%) was observed in 7 tetraploid hybrids and very low in all hexaploids. After iodine staining, the recessive amf marker was expressed by a red colour instead of blue, visible in starch-containing cells like columella cells of root tips, (micro)tubers or microspores. As expected, complementation was observed in starch-containing cells of the fusion hybrids. Segregation of the amf marker was clearly observed in microspores of 4x and 6x hybrids. Segregation ratios in the 4x hybrids showed variable recombination frequencies. In the backcross progeny of hexaploid F12-5 with a tetraploid amf mutant one amylose-free recombinant among 67 plants was found, indicating the occurrence of meiotic recombination in the megaspore mother cells.     

Characterization of factors affecting plant regeneration frequency of Medicago lupulina L.

Summary Different hormones, length of hormone pretreatment, and developmental status of plants were found to influence the shoot and root differentiation frequencies from immature inflorescence explants of Medicago lupulina L., a diploid autogamous species. Explants of immature inflorescence pretreated with phytohormones for a short period (10 min –6 h) were placed on hormone-free medium for shoot differentiation. Cytokinins, such as BA, were found to be essential for shoot differentiation, whereas treatment with 2,4-D could only induce root differentiation. Explants with hormone pretreatment for 30 min to 1 h produced the highest shoot regeneration rate. Plants at the beginning of flowering were found to have a better regeneration ability than those at fruiting or maturation. After a 10 mg/l BA pretreatment, respective shoot differentiation frequencies of 39%, 36% and 23% were observed for explants of self-progeny plants, regenerated plants, and plants propagated by cuttings, although the three categories of plants were originally derived from the same plants.Abbreviations BA 6-benzylaminopurine - 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - 2iP 2-iso-pentenyladenine     

In vitro selection for oleic and linoleic acid content in segregating populations of microspore derived embryos of Brassica napus

Microspore derived embryos (MDEs) in Brassica napuscontain large amounts of storage lipids which show a genotype specific fatty acid composition (FAC). One cotyledon of regenerating emblyos can be dissected at an early stage during the in vitro culture and used for fatty acid analysis. Thus, in breeding programmes to modify oil quality, only MDEs having the desired FAC need to be regenerated to plantlets and transferred to the greenhouse. In the present study the applicability of this method for the selection of a high oleic acid content and a low linoleic acid content in the seed oil has been tested by crossing a Brassica napus mutant line having a high oleic acid (C18:1) content in the seed oil (75%) with a wild type doubled haploid line with 62% C18:1 in the seed oil. Microspore culture was applied to the F1 plants. In total 59 MDEs were obtained, from which 31 were cultured with and 28 without 15μM abscisic acid for 3 weeksin vitro. One cotyledon was dissected under aspetic conditions and used for fatty acid analysis. The remaining part of the embryos were further regenerated to plantlets and transferred to the greenhouse to obtain seeds after self pollination. Seeds harvested from the doubled haploid lines in the greenhouse were used for fatty acid analysis and also for growing in the field. The abscisic acid treatment of the MDEs generally improved the correlations for linoleic and oleic acid between the MDEs and the seeds harvested in the greenhouse and the field. The correlations ranged from 0.68** to 0.81**.This indicates that selection for high oleic acid can be started already during an early stage of the in vitro culture. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Short-duration colchicine treatment for in vitro chromosome doubling during ovule culture of Beta vulgaris L.

Colchicine uptake into ovules of sugar beet after 7 days of culture and its chromosome-doubling effect on ovule-derived plants were studied with high colchicine concentrations (0.4–6.0%) and short treatment duration (0–5 h). The best result of 4.2 diploid plants per 100 ovules was produced by treatment with 0.4% colchicine for 2.5 h. Both colchicine concentration and treatment time of ovules showed toxic effects on embryo formation, but it was stabilized at a low level with short exposure. The chromosome-doubling effect, by contrast, was unchanged with the colchicine concentrations used, but highly affected by the duration of exposure studied. A maximum percentage of 60% diploid plants was obtained after 3–5 h of uptake, which corresponds to only 31–39% of the total capacity for colchicine uptake in the ovules. Further uptake of the drug produced mainly toxic effects. Flow-cytometric measurements of the ploidy level in plantlets in vitro and of the same plants before flowering in soil were similar in about 80% of cases. Thus, flow-cytometric selection of diploid plants in vitro may be an efficient tool.     

Resynthesizing <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica napus</Emphasis> from interspecific hybridization between <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica rapa</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">B. oleracea</Emphasis> through ovary culture

Using three varieties of Brassica rapa, cv. Hauarad (accession 708), cv. Maoshan-3 (714) and cv. Youbai (715), as the maternal plants and one variety of B. oleracea cv. Jingfeng-1 (6012) as the paternal plant, crosses were made to produce interspecific hybrids through ovary culture techniques. A better response of seed formation was observed when ovaries were cultured in vitro at 9–12 days after pollination on the basal MS and B5 media supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and naphthylacetic acid (NAA). The best response was observed for cross 714×6012 with the rate of seeds per ovary reaching 43.0%. Seeds for cross 715×6012 showed the best germination response (66.7%) on the regeneration medium (MS+1.0 mg l^–1 BA+0.05 mg l^–1 NAA). In all three cross combinations, good response in terms of root number and length of plants was observed on the root induction medium (MS+1.0 mg l^–1 BA+0.1 mg l^–1 NAA). A better response was observed for the regenerated plants cultured for 14 days than for 7 days. The ovary-derived plants with well-developed root system were hardened for 8 days and their survival rate reached over 80%. Cytological studies showed that the chromosome number of all plants tested was 19 (the sum of both parents), indicating that these regenerated plants were all true hybrids of B. rapa (n = 10) × B. oleracea (n = 9). The regenerated plants were doubled with colchicine treatment, and the best response in the crosses 708×6012, 714×6012 and 715×6012 was observed when treated with 170 mg l^–1 colchicine for up to 30 h and their doubling frequency reached 52, 56 and 62%, respectively.     

Generation and characterisation of colchicine-induced autotetraploid Lavandula angustifolia

Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) is a small woody perennial grown for essential oil, which is steam distilled from flowers. To potentially improve size of flowers and oil yield we produced and characterised autotetraploid plants. L. angustifolia seed germinated in the presence of the mitotic spindle inhibitor colchicine at concentrations of 125 mg l⁻¹ or less resulted in plants carrying sports with larger flowers. Propagation of two sports gave rise to putative polyploid cultivars C3/2 and C6/24. Direct chromosome counts in root tip cells of seedlings from four common cultivars of L. angustifolia and the seed lot from which C3/2 and C6/24 were derived was 50 whereas C3/2 and C6/24 had greater than 90 chromosomes indicating they were autotetraploid. Ploidy level assessed by flow cytometry (FCM) of nuclei showed that 12 cultivars of L. angustifolia had similar nuclear DNA content whereas C3/2 and C6/24 had double the amount of DNA confirming autotetraploidy. The genome size (1C-value) of a diploid L. angustifolia cultivar was estimated by FCM to be 0.90 (±0.07) pg. Morphological characteristics were measured in autotetraploid and control plants. Autotetraploids had thicker peduncles, larger flowers and larger seeds than diploids. Scanning electron microscopy revealed peltate glandular trichomes were larger in the tetraploids relative to diploids. Both tetraploid and diploid cultivars had complex non-glandular trichomes on leaves and sepals and two different types of capitate glandular trichomes were identified on leaves. Autotetraploid lavenders represent useful germplasm both for commercial oil production and future breeding.     

Effect of donor plant age and inflorescence age on microspore culture of Brassica napus L.

Summary Effect of age of donor plants and age of inflorescence on embryogenesis in microspore culture of B. napus was examined. Microspores isolated from buds of older plants had a higher embryo yield than those of younger ones. The effect of the age of inflorescence showed a different pattern. In older plants, a higher embryogenesis response was observed in microspores isolated from buds of new inflorescences, while in young plants, microspores isolated from buds of old inflorescences showed high embryo yield. These different responses were considered to be attributable to a difference in the developmental stage of pollen at the time of microspore isolation. Our results indicated that microspores collected from older inflorescences and older plants have sufficient embryogenic potential when the optimum developmental stage of pollen was used. Frequency of embryo to plant conversion was influenced by the size of embryos subcultured, but not by donor plant age or the age of the inflorescence.