Screening Autotetraploid Plantlets of Glycyrrhiza uralnesis Fisch by Colchicine-Treated Bud Culture

Abstract

To screen effective and useful autopolyploid of Glycyrrhiza uralnesis Fisch, the buds were used to dip in the medium with colchicine at different concentrations for different times. The treated buds were transferred to pots with perlite to grow at room temperature. After 2 weeks, the root tips from the cultured seedlings were cut to observe their cell morphology and chromosome counts, and the individual contained four chromosome groups harvested as an autotetraploid. The results indicated that, the colchicine of low concentration might promote the bud′s development, whereas high concentration colchicine is harmful for the buds of Glycyrrhiza uralnesis Fisch. Moreover, over 30 % autotetraploids might be obtained using 0.15 or 0.20 % of colchicine for 12–36 h, but in comparison with the diploids, the plantlets of many autotetraploids became badly weak at first generation. Therefore, the autotetraploids preliminary obtained will be faced to strictly screen according to agricultural traits and effective component.