Antimicrotubule herbicides for in vitro chromosome doubling in Beta vulgaris L. ovule culture

In vitro chromosome doubling during ovule culture of sugar and fodder beets (Beta vulgaris L.) was studied with four anti-microtubule herbicides: amiprophos-methyl (APM), oryzalin, pronamide, and trifluralin at concentrations of 0–300 μM. Best chromosome doubling results were obtained by treatment of the ovules with 100 μM APM which produced 4.7 diploid plants per 100 ovules. Highest chromosome doubling was found with oryzalin using 1 μM, with trifluralin at 10 μM, and with pronamide at 10 μM producing 2.8, 2.0, and 2.0 diploid plants per 100 ovules, respectively. The APM treatments showed relatively low toxicity on embryo formation which in combination with a high chromosome doubling effect, resulted in up to 89 diploids per 100 plants regenerated. Oryzalin and trifluralin had more severe toxic effects, which reduced embryo formation, thereby lower percentages of chromosome doubled plants were obtained from these treatments. Pronamide had no significant toxic effect but it induced chromosome doubling at lower frequencies. Compared to colchicine, APM seems to be as efficient for chromosome doubling during beet ovule culture, but at molar concentrations 100 times lower than those used for chromosome doubling with colchicine. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

不同除草剂加倍玉米单倍体的效率

通过比较3种除草剂加倍玉米单倍体的效率,提出了利用除草剂加倍玉米单倍体的新方法。以先玉335、中农大4号和8607×8609三个基因型诱导的单倍体籽粒为材料,利用20、40、80和160 μmol L^-1浓度的甲基胺草磷、炔苯酰草胺和氟乐灵作为加倍药剂,在单倍体植株生长到三叶期和五叶期时,用滴心法处理幼苗,选择有花粉的单株自交,收获后调查果穗加倍率;采用细胞学方法观察单倍体的染色体数目和花粉的活性。结果表明,20~160 μmol L^-1的3种除草剂对玉米单倍体加倍均有效果,加倍率在3.42%~26.32%之间。甲基胺草磷、炔苯酰草胺和氟乐灵的加倍率分别为4.29%~26.32%、3.85%~20.81%和3.42%~17.61%;其中80 μmol L^-1甲基胺草磷的加倍效果最佳,使用80 μmol L^-1甲基胺草磷处理3个杂交种的单倍体,平均加倍率分别为25.02%、20.13%和14.99%。方差分析表明,3个基因型间的单倍体加倍率均呈极显著差异,可见使用甲基胺草磷、炔苯酰草胺、氟乐灵可以提高玉米单倍体的加倍频率,但不同基因型单倍体对除草剂的敏感性存在差异。     

Effect of Mutagenic Treatments on Somaclonal Variation in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Different wheat genotypes were treated with gamma-rays, sodium azide (SA) and EMS before tissue culture and immature embryos from M₁ plants or plants shortly after exposure to gamma-rays were used to initiate callus culture. Thousands of plants were regenerated and used to investigate the effect of mutagenic treatments on the regenerated plants and somaclonal variation in the M₃R₂ and M₂R₂ generations. The results showed that mutagen-induced damage in terms of reduction in plant height, fertility and spike length were not outstanding in the regenerated plants as compared with the untreated control. In the M₃R₂ generation, only SA treatment had significantly higher frequencies of somaclonal variations than the control. Increases in the variation frequencies were observed when explant embryos were irradiated with 2.5 and 5 gy gamma-rays and the highest frequency appeared when embryos were exposed to 5 gy gamma-rays on the 5th day after anthesis. Increased variation spectra also resulted from mutagenic treatments and most of the variants recovered were unsuitable for plant improvement.     

Efficient production of doubled haploid wheat plants by in vitro treatment of microspores with trifluralin or APM

Isolated microspore cultures from two doubled haploid (DH) lines of wheat, Triticum aestivum L., were used to develop an in vitro chromosome-doubling protocol. During the initial 24 h or 48 h of culture the microspores were treated with either of the two antimicrotubule herbicides trifluralin or amiprophos-methyl (APM) in concentrations ranging from 0.1 μM to 10μM. Untreated control cultures yielded 209 embryos per 100000 microspores, which is the equivalent of one spike. Among the regenerated plantlets 67% were green, and 15% of the flowering plants were spontaneously chromosome doubled. Treatments with both the herbicides had a significant effect on chromosome doubling, measured as the percentage of fertile regenerants. With the best combination of treatment duration (48 h) and herbicide concentration (10/μM) the percentage of fertile plants among regenerants could be increased up to 74% with APM and up to 65% with trifluralin. The largest numbers of DH plants per spike could be obtained with herbicide concentrations at 1–3 μM. Treatments with either herbicide at these concentrations resulted in an estimated average between the two genotypes of 27 DH plants per 100 000 microspores. These results demonstrate the high potential of APM and trifluralin as chromosome-doubling agents in isolated microspore cultures. The in vitro treatment integrated into tissue culture procedures will constitute an efficient method for chromosome doubling in future wheat breeding     

Production of Doubled Haploids by Anther Culture and Wheat X Maize Method in a Wheat Breeding Programme

Utilization of the doubled haploid method of breeding usually shortens the time to cultivar release, and methods of haploid production need evaluation in a breeding programme. Thirty-eight different three-way crosses were tested for anther culture response. On average 5.8 percent of the anthers cultured produced calli. Three crosses were found recalcitrant for callus induction. Overall, the anther culture method produced 0.6 plantlet per 100 anthers cultured. Five crosses with an average of 5.8 and 2.8 percent of anthers producing calli and plantlets, respectively, were compared using anther culture and wheat × maize crosses. Non-responsive genotypes for callus induction and plantlet formation in the anther culture method proved to be good parental material in wheat × maize crosses. The average percentages of embryo formation and plantlet production in wheat × maize crosses were 10.3 and 4.7, respectively. Anther-derived plants were cytologically unstable, whereas all the plants regenerated from wheat × maize crosses were haploids (n = 21 chromosomes). The chromosome numbers of the polyhaploids were doubled with a colchicine treatment. Improvement of the two haploid production methods to facilitate their efficient use in a breeding programme is discussed.     

Effect of source germplasm and season on the in vivo haploid induction rate in tropical maize

For in vivo production of doubled haploid (DH) lines in maize, the rate of haploid induction is of crucial importance. Maternal haploid induction depends primarily on the inducer used as a pollinator. However, the source germplasm used as a maternal parent and the environmental conditions for induction may also influence haploid induction and these aspects have not been examined in tropical maize so far. The objectives of our study were to (i) monitor the variation for haploid induction rate (HIR) among diverse source germplasm in tropical maize, (ii) determine the relative importance of general (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining abilities for HIR, and (iii) investigate the influence of summer and winter seasons and genotype × season interactions on this trait. Ten inbreds were mated in a half diallel design. The resulting 45 F₁ single crosses were pollinated with the haploid inducer hybrid RWS × UH400 during the summer 2008 and winter 2009 seasons in a lowland tropical environment in Mexico. HIR of the single crosses averaged over seasons ranged from 2.90 to 9.66% with an overall mean of 6.74%. Mean HIR was significantly (P < 0.01) higher during the winter (7.37%) than summer season (6.11%). Significant (P < 0.01) variation was observed due to GCA effects of parental inbreds of single crosses but not for SCA, GCA × season and SCA × season interactions. Our study underpins that a higher HIR in tropical maize can be obtained by selecting appropriate source germplasm and undertaking pollination under favorable environmental conditions.     

Somatic Embryogenesis in Maize and Comparison of Genetic Variability Induced by Gamma Radiation and Tissue Culture Techniques

Sixteen inbred lines and one hybrid of manse were tested for their capability of somatic embryogenesis, and fully developed plants could be regenerated, from ten inbred, lines. The highest frequency of plant regeneration was expressed in the inbred line CHI 31, and when this line was crossed with a recalcitrant, non-regenerating line, the F₁ and BC hybrids were regenerable. The results of reciprocal crosses demonstrated that dominant nuclear genes and cytoplasmic factors are primarily responsible for the heritable determination of embryogenic callus proliferation and in vitro regeneration of maize plants. Somaclonal and radiation-induced variability was studied in maize to assess their nature and potential contribution to plant breeding., The inbred line CHI 31 possessing a high in vitro capacity of somatic embryo formation was used as experiments.] material. CHI 31 plants were selfed and twelve-day old zygotic embryos irradiated with ⁶⁰Co gamma radiation in situ. Mature caryopses were harvested and assigned as M₁ material. In another series, immature zygotic embryos (size 1.2—1.5 mm) were cultured in vitro on N-6 medium supplemented with 2,4-D (2.5 μM), and somatic embryos regenerated into plants; these were transplanted into soil and self-pollinated. Regenerants from non-irradiated cultures were grown as R₁ generation, while regenerants from irradiated explants were considered as M₁R₁ generation. The genetic variability was evaluated in the M₂, R₂ and M₂R₂ generations, respectively, and compared with a non-treated seed control. Irradiation induced a variety of chlorophyll and morphological variants segregating in the M; generation; however, the frequency of deviant types obtained in the R: generation (somaclonal variation) was significantly exceeding the one derived from the M₂ populations. The combination of expert irradiation and in vitro regeneration was most effective for the manifestation of chlorophyll and morphological o if types in the M₂R₂ generation, and increased drastically the frequency of early flowering variants. Differences in the segregation patterns of mutant phenotypes amonsister somaclones in the R₃ and M₃R₃ generations indicate a different genetic basis, of plants originating from the same explant. This phenomenon suggests a mutational sectoring of the callus during culture. Radiation induced and somaclonal variation exerted a similar spectrum of chlorophyll and morphological deviants.     

The effect of colchicine on triticale anther-derived plants: Microspore pre-treatment and haploid-plant treatment using a hydroponic recovery system

In cereals, chromosome doubling of microspore-derived haploid plants is a critical step in producing doubled haploid plants. This investigation was undertaken to study the effect of incorporation of colchicine in the induction medium for anther culture, and the effect of colchicine on anther culture-derived plants of triticale grown under controlled greenhouse conditions. In the latter case, chromosome doubling of adult sterile plants derived from anther culture of fourteen triticale populations was attempted, where androgenetic plants with non-dehiscent anthers were cloned and subjected to the colchicine treatment, and then grown with the aid of hydroponics. The hydroponic system provided optimal conditions for recovery of the affected haploids from the toxic effects of colchicine treatment and all colchicine-treated plants survived. A topcross-F₁ (TC₁F₁) population with timopheevii cytoplasm produced the highest percentage of plants with seed-set either due to chromosome doubling by colchicine (98%) or spontaneous doubling of chromosome number (15%). Colchicine-treated anthers performed inferior than control in both induction and regeneration phases. One of the key observation of this study was the reversal from reproductive stage back to the vegetative stage which in turn enabled further cloning of haploid plants under hydroponic conditions once they were identified as sterile. The one hundred percent survival rate of in vitro-derived plants, 100% survival rate of colchicine treated haploid plants and the high chromosome doubling success rate (X = 82.3) observed in this study imply that a temperature-controlled greenhouse with an hydroponic system provides an efficient environment for inducing chromosome doubling of haploid plants in cereals. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Oryzalin as an Efficient Agent for Chromosome Doubling of Haploid Apple Shoots in vitro

In an outbreeding species such as apple, haploid plants may be especially useful in breeding programmes for the production of homozygous material. However, methods must be available to induce chromosome doubling in the haploid plants. Two antimitotic agents, colchicine and oryzalin, were compared as regards their efficiency in inducing chromosome doubling of in vitro haploid apple shoots. Three colchicine levels (0.025, 0.25 and 1.25 mM) and three oryzalin levels (5, 15 and 30 μM) were evaluated. Three techniques were also used and compared. Survival rate and chromosome counts were determined. Differences were observed between the two antimitotic agents and between the three techniques. This study demonstrates that oryzalin could be a better choice than colchicine for chromosome doubling on haploid apple shoots in vitro.     

Transmission of somaclonal variation in wheat

Summary Transmission of somaclonal variation was studied in callus derived (SC1) plants of wheat, Triticum aestivum L. Second (SC2), third (SC3) and fourth (SC4) generations were compared with those obtained from embryo culture (E1-E4). SC2 generation had significantly lower grain yield (–37.3%), reduced thousand kernel weight (–7.8%) and shorter height (–2.1%) than that of E2, and included 5.7% seed-sterile and 15.0% partially seed-sterile plants. SC3 generation showed reduced yield (–12.6%), lower thousand kernel weight (–4.9%) and shorter plant height (–1.9%) than E3 generation. SC4 progeny of a short height, partially sterile SC1 variant included aberrant plants: a haploid, few aneuploids, mixoploids, some showing multiploidy, spindle abnormalities, multivalents, bridges and fragments, and tillers having supernumerary spikes with branched rachis. Somaclonal variation resulted from genome instability in callus, and likely involved transposable elements.     

小麦与玉米杂交产生小麦单倍体与双单倍体的稳定性

小麦与玉米杂交是诱导小麦单倍体最有效的途径之一, 但单倍体和双单倍体产生频率不稳定影响了该技术的应用。选用13个小麦杂种F₁代单交组合与玉米杂交, 研究了不同小麦生长环境、生长素处理、培养基和壮苗处理对单倍体及双单倍体产生频率的影响。小麦生长在大田, 去雄后割穗培养与玉米杂交平均得胚率为23.9%, 每个杂交穗平均得胚数6.8个, 均是返青后从大田移回冷温室盆栽的3倍以上;不同小麦杂交组合间胚产生频率存在明显差异。生长素Dicamba蘸穗处理平均得胚率是21.5%, 与2,4-D处理得胚率(21.1%)无显著差异, 但不同杂交组合间差异显著。B5培养基幼胚萌发率为70.9%~88.3%, 平均82.0%;1/2 MS培养基胚萌发率为70.0%~86.0%, 平均76.6%;两种培养基平均胚萌发率无显著差异。试管苗经壮苗培养基壮苗处理与试管苗经移栽壮苗处理后加倍效率分别是67.6%和8.6%。移栽壮苗处理的苗分蘖少, 生长较弱, 加倍处理后存活率低和加倍率低是其单倍体加倍效率低的原因。     

Improved Techniques for Haploid Production in Wheat using Chromosome Elimination

Wheat × maize and wheat × pearl millet crosses have proved efficient for haploid production using various genotypes of wheat; 22 and 27 % of florets produced embryos. In favourable conditions 6—9 haploid plants per spike were produced. The following simplifications or improvements in technique are recommended: 1. Only a single treatment with an aqueous solution of dicamba or 2,4-D (50–100 ppm) for embryo stimulation in vivo; 2. Application by spraying or dipping the spikes; 3. Application time two to four days after pollination; 4. Embryo rescue 15 to 18 days after pollination; 5. Crosses without emasculation are possible if pollination occurs 1–2 days before anthesis. More than 450 haploids and some doubled haploid (DH) lines (after colchicine treatment in vitro) were produced using these methods. No hybrid plants, chromosome additions or substitutions were found.     

Improving androgenesis‐mediated doubled haploid production efficiency of FCV tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) through in vitro colchicine application

Production of doubled haploid plants through androgenesis in flue‐cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco is a promising and convenient alternative to conventional selfing techniques for the generation of absolute homozygous lines. Here, we show a robust in vitro haploid and doubled haploid development protocol in FCV tobacco with major emphasis on improving the efficiency of chromosome doubling using in vitro colchicine treatment. We used five FCV tobacco hybrids for comparison of colchicine treatments. The anther culture response varied with developmental stages of the buds, and the highest response was observed in stage 2 buds. The effect of cold pretreatment was significant, and 4 days of pretreatment was optimum for gametic embryogenesis. Among the methods used for determining the ploidy status of plants, flow cytometry was found to be easy, fast and reliable for high‐throughput screening of haploids. Doubled haploids regeneration percentage varied from 6.77 to 11.95 in in vivo treatment, while the range of variation was 22.11% to 28.40% in in vitro colchicine treatment. We observed a pronounced increase in plant survival and the proportion of doubled haploid plants in in vitro treatment compared with the standard in vivo approach.     

Variation among progenies of diploid plants regenerated from haploid, microspore-derived cell-suspension protoplasts of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Progenies of 110 diploid R₀ plants regenerated from haploid protoplasts derived from microspore callus cell suspension culture of rice (cv. Miara) were evaluated for 6 traits, along with control lines, in a replicated field trial. Complementary post-harvest observations were carried out for four panicle or grain characters. A wide range of variation was observed for all traits under study among the protoclonal lines. The mean of the protoclonal population was significantly different from that of the control for most traits and 64.5% of the lines differed from the control for at least one field-evaluated trait. A unidirectional shift towards later-maturing, taller, and lower-tillering lines was observed. Of all the lines, 39% were taller than the control by at least 10 cm, 31 % had flowering delayed by at least 5 days, and 13% exhibited significantly longer panicles (P = 0.05). As to the agronomical value of the lines, the variation resulted in a global negative drift although favourable variations were found in a few lines. All but two lines were homogeneous, suggesting that most variations existed in a homozygous form in the R₀ plants. R₂ lines grown from seeds of 17 R₁ protoclonal lines stably inherited the changes and did not segregate, thereby confirming that variations are fixed.     

Regeneration, establishment and evaluation of somaclones in Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench

Novel in vitro techniques have the potential to aid conventional breeding programs. Somaclonal variation is considered to be a useful source of variation and has been demonstrated to be feasible in crop species like wheat, rice and maize. A study was taken up at Tissue Culture Laboratory, University of Agricultural Sciences Dharwad, India, for callus induction, maintenance and regeneration of two well established sorghum varieties, M35-1 and A-1 to study somaclonal variation for both qualitative and quantitative characters. The frequency of callus induction was 90 and 83.3 percent in M35-1 and A-1, respectively, on MS medium with 2 mg l-l of 2,4-D. On higher levels of sucrose (60 gl-l), M35-1 showed good response for both regeneration and rooting, while for variety A-1 BA(0.5 mg l-l) and NAA (0.2 mg l-l) had to be supplemented for satisfactory levels of regeneration (73.3%) and rooting respectively. The regenerated plants (SC₁) were selfed to obtain the seeds for the next generation. In M35-1, variations were observed for chlorophyll, phyllotaxy and midrib structure, while male sterile and branched phenotypes occurred in A-1 families. Combined analysis of variances showed that there was significant difference between and within families for most of the quantitative characters in both cultivars except for the character, fourth leaf breadth in the cultivar A-1. The variation, accompanied by a positive shift from the mean is an indication of the response to selection for any specific character. Occurrence of productive variants among the somaclones of established cultivars like M35-1 and A-1 indicates the possibility of their improvement through somaclonal variation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Genetic variation among European maize inbreds for resistance to the European corn borer and relation to agronomic traits

The univoltine European corn borer (ECB) has become a major limiting factor for maize (Zea mays L.) production in central Europe. The objective of this study was to survey the genetic variation for ECB resistance in European elite maize germplasm. Eighteen flint and 23 dent inbreds were screened under artificial ECB infestation at two locations in 1993 and 1994. Resistance was assessed by damage rating of broken plants, measurement of tunnel length in dissected stalks, and yield reduction in infested plots relative to insecticide-protected control plots. Flint lines showed significantly greater means for damage rating than dent lines with grain yield reduction of 35% and 24%, respectively. Significant genotypic variances among lines and high heritabilities were found for agronomic traits and damage rating. Heritabilities were intermediate for tunnel length and relative grain yield. Significant associations of days to silking, ear dry matter content, and dry matter yield of the whole plant with damage rating and tunnel length suggested a better resistance in late-maturing, high-yielding inbreds. Genotypic correlations of relative grain yield with tunnel length and damage rating ranged between ?0.46 and ?0.72. Partial correlations, eliminating the effect of flowering time, confirmed these associations. Damage rating of stalks is the most suitable trait for evaluation of ECB damage owing to its high heritability and easy recording. Tunnel length below the primary ear is a useful trait for assessing antibiosis because it is not correlated with days to silking. Inbreds with extreme resistance and susceptibility were identified which can be used as parents for establishing breeding and QTL mapping populations.     

玉米自交系高频率再生因素研究

以玉米自交系幼胚为外植体，就不同基因型、不同激素对其愈伤组织诱导和植株再生的影响进行了研究，并建立了玉米自交系高频率再生系统。方差分析表明：玉米自交系的高频率再生受基因型、激素以及二者间的互作影响。其中基因型是最重要的影响因素。同时，再生植株的分化还受到诱愈培养基、分化培养基、诱愈培养基与分化培养基     

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.     

Anther culture in connection with induced mutations for rice improvement

Doubled haploids have long been recognized as a valuable tool in plant breeding since it not only offers the quickest method of advancing heterozygous breeding lines to homozygosity, but also increases the selection efficiency over conventional procedures due to better discrimination between genotypes within any one generation. Ten cultivars of japonica rice and nine cultivars of indica rice were evaluated for androgenic response. Various doses (10–50 Gy) of gamma rays were applied to investigate the effect of radiation on callus formation, green plant regeneration and the frequency of selected doubled haploid mutants. Similarly, the effects of colchicine concentration (10–200 mg/l) on callus induction, regeneration and fertility of green plants were observed. It was demonstrated that the dose of 20 Gy gamma rays and 30 mg/l concentration of colchicine have significant stimulation effect on regeneration of green plants from rice anther culture. The high frequency of observed doubled haploid mutants indicates that anther culture applied in connection with gamma rays is an effective way to improve rice cultivars. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Die Nutzung der Antherenkulturmethode im Zuchtprozeß von Winterweizen

Anther culture in the breeding process of winter wheat. I. Ability of 1B—-1R wheat-rye translocation forms for androgenesis 45 winter wheat varieties or F₁ hybrids, F₂ populations and lines with 1B—1R wheat-rye translocation were tested for their anther culture ability. A total of 48058 anthers was cultured on Potato-2 medium. When averaged over all genotypes and the two experimental years frequencies of embryoid formation of 5.4—6.8 per 100 anthers were observed. Plant regeneration efficiency from embryoids ranged from 5.3—9.1 % or a mean of 4—5 green plants per 1000 anthers plated. The results confirmed the preferential regeneration frequency of gametes with the 1BL—1RS chromosome compared to the gametes with the 1BL—IBS chromosome. Multiple peroxidase were used as marker. The effect of cold pretreatment or of media on the androgenetic response and productivity was not important. On the contrary the variability between the anther response from single ears of the same genotype was noticeable. Examples are presented for the transferability of the androgenetic ability to breeding material. Most green plants obtained were haploid or spontaneous doubled haploid. By cloning it was guaranteed, that progenies were obtained from most of the haploids after colchicine treatment.