Abstract
Lavandula × intermedia (lavandins) are naturally occurring hybrids of Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) and Lavandula latifolia (spike lavender) which are grown for their essential oil and as garden ornamentals. Lavandins are higher yielding plants than lavenders but produce camphoraceous, inferior quality oils. They are invariably infertile. The majority of oil produced worldwide from the genus comes from lavandins. To produce larger higher yielding lavandins we induced polyploidy in the common cultivars Grosso and Seal with the mitotic spindle inhibitor colchicine, using whole plants, cutting material and tissue culture. Polyploid plants were identified by restoration of fertility and the production of seed, regardless of the plant tissue used. These fertile lavandins were morphologically similar to the parents. Using flow cytometry (FCM) we determined one of these plants to be mixoploid having distinct diploid and tetraploid nuclei. Seed from this plant was twice the weight of L. angustifolia seed. Ten plants were grown from seed collected from the colchicine treated lavandins Grosso and Seal. All had similar overall morphology to the parents but were larger plants with larger flowers. One plant derived from Seal and one from Grosso were found to be triploid by FCM and all 20 plants were found to be infertile. The C-values of the three species within section Lavandula, the lavandins Grosso and Seal and the polyploids resulting from this work were determined by FCM. The novel fertile lavandin characterised may be useful for extending the range of hybrids possible within the genus for both production of essential oils and ornamentals.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bennett MD, Leitch IJ (2012) Plant DNA C-values database (release 6.0, Dec 2012) http://www.kew.org/cvalues/. Accessed 1 Aug 2013
Bewley JD (1997) Seed germination and dormancy. Plant Cell 9:1055–1066
Carović-Stanko K, Liber Z, Besendorfer V, Javornik B, Bohanec B, Kolak I, Satovic Z (2010) Genetic relations among basil taxa (Ocimum L.) based on molecular markers, nuclear DNA content, and chromosome number. Plant Syst Evol 285:13–22
Castle J, Lis-Balchin M (2002) History of usage of Lavandula species. In: Lis-Balchin M (ed) Lavender the genus Lavandula, 1st edn. Taylor and Francis, London, pp 35–50
Comai L (2005) The advantages and disadvantages of being polyploid. Nat Rev Genet 6:836–846
Contreras RN, Ranney TG (2007) Reproductive behaviour of diploid and allotetraploid Rhododendron L. ‘fragrant affinity’. Hort Sci 42:31–34
Dhooghe E, Van Laere K, Eeckhaut T, Leus L, Van Huylenbroeck J (2011) Mitotic chromosome doubling of plant tissues in vitro. Plant Cell Tissue Organ Cult 104:359–373
Dolezel J, Bartos J (2005) Plant DNA flow cytometry and estimation of nuclear genome size. Ann Bot 95:99–110
Galbraith DW, Harkins KR, Maddox JM, Ayres NM, Sharma DP, Firoozabady E (1983) Rapid flow cytometric analysis of the cell cycle in intact plant tissues. Science 220:1049–1051
Gaudin J, Semety O, Foissac X, Eveillard S (2011) Phytoplasma titer in diseased lavender is not correlated to lavender tolerance to stolbur phytoplasma. Bull Insectol 64:S179–S180
Girón V, Garnatje T, Vallès J, Pérez-Collazos E, Catalán P, Valdés B (2012) Geographical distribution of diploid and tetraploid cytotypes of thymus sect. Mastichina (Lamiaceae) in the Iberian Peninsula, genome size and evolutionary implications. Folio Geobot 47:441–460
Godfrey-Smith P (2009) Darwinian populations and natural selection. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Hancock JF (1997) The colchicine story. Hort Sci 32:1011–1012
Herrera CM (1987) Components del flujo génico en Lavandula latifolia Medicus:polinizaciόn y dispersiόn de semillas. An Jardin Bot Madrid 44:49–61
Jiao Y, Wickett NJ, Ayyampalayam S, Chanderbali AS, Landherr L, Ralph PE, Tomsho LP, Hu Y, Liang H, Soltis PS, Soltis DE, Clifton SW, Schlarbaum SE, Schuster SC, Ma H, Leebens-Mack J, dePamphilis CW (2011) Ancestral polyploidy in seed plants and angiosperms. Nature 473:97–100
Knuth P (1909) Handbook of flower pollination, vol 3. Clarendon, Oxford, p 664
Lόpez-Pujol J, Bosch M, Simon J, Blanché C (2004) Allozyme diversity in the tetraploid endemic Thymus loscosii (Lamiaceae). Ann Bot 93:323–332
Madlung A (2013) Polyploidy and its effect on evolutionary success: old questions revisited with new tools. Heredity 110:99–104
McGimpsey JA, Porter NG (1999) Lavender: a grower’s guide for commercial production, 2nd edn. New Zealand Food & Crop Research Limited, Christchurch
Murashige T, Skoog F (1962) A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissues cultures. Physiol Plant 15:473–497
Raev RT, Jordanov R, Zheljazov V (1996) Induced polyploidy in lavender. Acta Hort 426:561–572
Satina S, Blakeslee AF, Avery AG (1940) Demonstration of the three germ layers in shoot apex of Datura by means of induced polyploidy in periclinal chimeras. Am J Bot 27:895–905
Soltis PS, Soltis DE (2009) The role of hybridisation in plant speciation. Annu Rev Plant Biol 60:561–588
Taylorson RB, Hendricks SB (1977) Dormancy in seeds. Ann Rev Plant Physiol 28:331–354
Tsuro M, Ikedo H (2011) Changes in morphological phenotypes and essential oil components in lavandin (Lavandula × intermedia Emeric ex Loisel.) transformed with wild-type strains of Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Sci Hortic 130:647–652
Tucker AO (1981) The correct name of lavandin and its cultivars (Labiatae). Baileya 21:131–133
Upson TM (1997) Systematics of the genus Lavandula L. (Lamiaceae). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Reading
Upson TM, Andrews S (2004) The genus Lavandula, 1st edn. Timber, Portland
Urwin NAR, Horsnell J, Moon T (2007) Generation and characterisation of colchicine-induced autotetraploid Lavandula angustifolia. Euphytica 156:257–266
Vinot M, Bouscary A (1971) Studies on lavender VI. The hybrids. Recherches 18:29–44
Widén B, Widén M (2000) Enzyme variation and inheritance in Glechoma hederacea (Lamiaceae), a diploidized tetraploid. Hereditas 132:229–241
Yang ZY, Gong X, Pan YZ (2004) Cytological study of six Salvia species (Lamiaceae) from Hengduanshan Mountains region of China. Caryologia 57:360–366
Zonneveld BJM, Iren FV (2000) Flow cytometric analysis of DNA content in Hosta reveals ploidy chimeras. Euphytica 111:105–110
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the following: The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), Canberra and Larkman Nurseries, Melbourne for financial support, Professor Heather Cavanagh for comments on the manuscript and helpful discussion, Mrs. Therese Moon, Mrs. Jennifer Horsnell and Mrs. Gurli Nielsen for their valuable technical assistance.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Urwin, N.A.R. Generation and characterisation of colchicine-induced polyploid Lavandula × intermedia . Euphytica 197, 331–339 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-014-1069-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-014-1069-5