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Colchicine-induced polyploidy in loquat (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.)

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Abstract

The induction of polyploids in loquat (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.) is of great interest for producing larger and seedless fruits according to market demands. Under this premise, this work was aimed to obtain tetraploid plants of loquat using the antimitotic agent colchicine. Experiments consisted in applying colchicine on shoot apex from in vitro-grown plants, in vitro-grown whole plants and ungerminated seeds. Treatments on the shoot apex or submerging whole plants produced no stable polyploids. Conversely, subjecting ungerminated seeds to colchicine produced two triploids in the 0.5 % (w/v) solution after 24 h and one tetraploid after 48 h. The triploids obtained among treated seeds make us believe that these plants were present in the hybrids original seedlot. Polyploidy levels were firstly detected by flow cytometry and later confirmed by chromosome counting and morphological characteristics. The relative fluorescence was 1.5-fold higher in triploids and twofold higher in tetraploids as compared to diploids. As expected, the chromosome number was 2n = 34 in diploids, 2n = 51 in triploids and 2n = 68 in the tetraploid. Moreover, differences in morphological characteristics between diploid and polyploid plants were significant. The tetraploid plant was more compact than triploids or diploids. Particularly, stomata of polyploids were larger with lower density than diploids. Results indicate that induction of polyploidy in loquat species is a reliable tool for breeding new loquat varieties.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Prof. Janick from revision and edition of the MS, and Dr. Jaime Cebolla from UPV and Dr. Carlos Romero from CSIC for their critical reading of this manuscript. This research was funded by the Grant RF 2010-0003-00-00 from the National Agency ‘Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias’ (INIA). MBV was funded by a fellowship from INIA.

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  1. Fruit Tree Breeding Department, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Apartado Oficial, 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain

    Manuel Blasco, María Luisa Badenes & Mª del Mar Naval

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  1. Manuel Blasco
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  2. María Luisa Badenes
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  3. Mª del Mar Naval
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Correspondence to María Luisa Badenes.

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Blasco, M., Badenes, M.L. & Naval, M.d.M. Colchicine-induced polyploidy in loquat (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.). Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 120, 453–461 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-014-0612-3

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