CREATION OF VARIABILITY BY MUTATION AND TISSUE CULTURE FOR IMPROVING PLANTS

A wide range of somaclonal variation was observed in Begonia x elatior and Saintpaulia ionantha. Their somaclones demonstrated stability of selected traits in the subsequent two micropropagated generations.
Axillary buds from gamma irradiated (mainly 5 and 10 KR) in vitro-grown strawberry plants formed shoots on MS medium containing 0.75 mg/l BA and 0.4 mg/l IBA. A total of 400 plants were treated with Phytopthora cactorum crude extract.
After 2 weeks, 20 plants survived and they also withstood drought conditions when watering was withheld for 5 days.
Protoclonal variation and mutagenesis in Brassica napus resulted in variability in seed shape and color, flowering time, and herbicide resistance.
Yellow and shriveled seeds were obtained in the M1 generation of mutants and protoclones.
Flowering time was unstable as a result of epigenetic variation in the R2 and R3 generations.
Germination rate of mutant seeds was very poor.
Our results suggested that somaclonal variation together with mutagenesis could create a range of variability.
Stable somaclonal variants and mutants could be exploited by plant breeders in crop improvement.

III International Symposium on In Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding

S. Mohan Jain

Brassica, Begonia, Saintpaulia, Fragaria, Phytopthora cactorum

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1997.447.6