Skip to main content

Interspecific hybridization in Sarcococca supported by analysis of ploidy level, genome size and genetic relationships

Euphytica volume 213, Article number: 149 (2017) Cite this article

Abstract

Knowledge of ploidy level differences, genome size and genetic relationships between species facilitates interspecific hybridization in ornamentals. For Sarcococca (Buxaceae) only limited (cyto)genetic information is available. The aim of this study was to determine the genome size and chromosome number and to unravel the genetic relationships of a breeder’s collection using AFLP marker analysis. Based on these results, interspecific crosses were made and the efficiency and hybrid status was verified. Two groups of diploid plants (2n = 2x = 24) were observed, with either a genome size of 4.11–4.20 or 7.25–9.63 pg/2C. All the tetraploid genotypes (2n = 4x = 48) had genome sizes ranging from 7.91 to 8.18 pg/2C. In crosses between parents with equal ploidy level and genome size a higher crossing efficiency (on average 58% of the hybridizations resulting in fruits) and more true hybrids (on average 96% of the offspring) were obtained compared to crosses between plants with different genome size and ploidy level (on average 23% fruits and 24% hybrids, respectively). In none of the cross combinations, the ploidy level or genome size was found to be a complete hybridization barrier, although unilateral incongruity was found in some cross combinations. Distant genetic relationships did not hamper the hybridization within Sarcococca genotypes. Our findings will contribute to a more efficient breeding program and a faster achievement of hybrids with an added value.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

References

  • Aleza P, Juarez J, Ollitrault P, Navarro L (2009) Production of tetraploid plants of non-apomictic citrus genotypes. Plant Cell Rep 28:1837–1846. doi:10.1007/s00299-009-0783-2

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Allum JF, Bringloe DH, Roberts AV (2007) Chromosome doubling in a Rosa rugosa Thunb. hybrid by exposure of in vitro nodes to oryzalin: the effects of node length, oryzalin concentration and exposure time. Plant Cell Rep 26:1977–1984

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bean WJ, Murray J (1989) Trees and shurbs hardy in the British Isles, vol IV: Ri-Z. Butler & Tanner ltd., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett MD (1972) Nuclear DNA Content and Minimum Generation Time in Herbaceous Plants. Proc R Soc Ser B 181:109. doi:10.1098/rspb.1972.0042

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bicknell RA, Koltunow AM (2004) Understanding apomixis: recent advances and remaining conundrums. Plant Cell 16:S228–S245

    CAS  Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Darlington CD, Wylie AP (1955) Chromosome atlas of flowering plants. The University Press, Aberdeen

    Google Scholar 

  • De Cock K, Scariot V, Leus L, De Riek J, Van Huylenbroeck J (2007) Understanding genetic relationships in wild and cultivated roses and the use of species in breeding CAB reviews: perspectives in agriculture, veterinary science. Nutr Nat Resour 2:10

    Google Scholar 

  • Dhooghe E (2009) Morphological and cytogenic study of ornamental ranuculaceae to obtain intergeneric crosses. Ghent University, Ghent

    Google Scholar 

  • Dirr M (2011) Dirr’s encyclopedia of trees and shubs. Timber Press, Portland

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolezel J, Sgorbati S, Lucretti S (1992) Comparison of three DNA fluorochromes for flow cytometric estimation of nuclear DNA content in plants. Physiol Plant 85:12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolezel J, Greilhuber J, Lucretti S, Mesiter A, Lysak MA, Bardi L, Obermayer R (1998) Plant genome size estimation by flow cytometry: Inter-laboratory comparison. Ann Bot 82:7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doyle JJ, Doyle JL (1987) A rapid DNA isolation procedure for small quantities of fresh leaf tissue. Phytochem Bull 19:5

    Google Scholar 

  • Eeckhaut T (2003) Ploidy breeding and interspecific hybridization in Spathiphyllum and woody ornamentals. University of Ghent, Ghent

    Google Scholar 

  • Endress PK, Igersheim A (1999) Gynoecium diversity and systematics of the basal eudicots. Bot J Linn Soc 130:305–393. doi:10.1006/bojl.1999.0255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flora of China (2008) Flora of China: Sarcococca. In: Flora of China

  • 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 220:3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garden H (1991) The Hillier manual of trees and shrubs, 6th edn. Redwood Press Ltd, Melksham

    Google Scholar 

  • Granados Mendoza C, Wanke S, Goetghebeur P, Samain MS (2013) Facilitating wide hybridization in Hydrangea s. l. cultivars: a phylogenetic and marker-assisted breeding approach. Mol Breed 32:233–239. doi:10.1007/s11032-012-9822-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greilhuber J (2005) Intraspecific variation in genome size in angiosperms: identifing its existence. Ann Bot 95:91–98. doi:10.1093/aob/mci004

    CAS  Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Greilhuber J, Dolezel J, Lysak MA, Bennett MD (2005) The origin, evolution and proposed stabilization of the terms “genome size’ and ‘C-value’ to describe nuclear DNA contents. Ann Bot 95:255–260. doi:10.1093/aob/mci019

    CAS  Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman MHA, en Ravesloot MBM (2002) Winterhardheid van boomkwekerijgewassen. PPO rapport 91

  • Jarvis CE (1989) A review of the family Buxaceae Dumortier, vol I. In: Evolution, systematics and fossil hystory of the Hamamelidae. Science Publications, Oxford

  • Kardos JH, Robacker CD, Dirr M, Rinehart TA (2009) Production and verification of Hydrangea macrophylla × H. angustipetala hybrids. Hortic Sci 44:4

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirov I, Divashuk M, Van Laere K, Soloviev A, Khrustaleva L (2014) An easy "SteamDrop" method for high quality plant chromosome preparation. Mol Cytogenet 7(1):21

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Köhler E (2007) Buxaceae. In: Kubitski K (ed) The families and genera of vascular plants, flowering plants, eudicots, vol IX. Springer, Berlin, pp 40–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Köhler C, Scheid OM, Erilova A (2010) The impact of the triploid block on the origin and evolution of polyploid plants. Trends Genet 26:142–148. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2009.12.006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krüsmann G (1960) Handbüch der Laubgehölze in zwei Bänden. In: Handbüch der Laubgehölze in zwei Bänden, vol Bänd II: Hemipetalia bis Zizyphus. Paul Pary in Berlin and Hamburg, Berling

  • Kubota S, Konno I, Kanno A (2012) Molecular phylogeny of the genus Asparagus (Asparagaceae) explains interspecific crossability between the garden asparagus (A. officinalis) and other Asparagus species. Theor Appl Genet 124:345–354. doi:10.1007/s00122-011-1709-2

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuligowska K, Lutken H, Muller R (2016) Towards development of new ornamental plants: status and progress in wide hybridization. Planta 243:17

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin BY (1984) Ploidy barrier to endosperm development in maize. Genetics 107:103–115

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lutken H, Clarke JL, Muller R (2012) Genetic engineering and sustainable production of ornamentals: current status and future directions. Plant Cell Rep 31:1141–1157. doi:10.1007/s00299-012-1265-5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lysak MA, Dolezel J (1998) Estimation of nuclear DNA content in Sesleria (Poaceae). Caryologia 52:10

    Google Scholar 

  • Meudt HM, Clarke AC (2007) Almost forgotten or latest practice? AFLP applications, analyses and advances. Trends Plant Sci 12:106–117. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2007.02.001

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Otto F (1990) Chapter 11 DAPI staining of fixed cells for high-resolution flow cytometry of nuclear DNA. Methods Cell Biol 33:105–110. doi:10.1016/s0091-679x(08)60516-6

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2015) R: a language and environment for statistical computing, R version 3.2.0 (2015-04-16)—full of ingredients edn. Vienna

  • Reeves A, Tear J (2000) MicroMeasure for Windows, 3.3 edn

  • Sealy JR (1986) A revision of the genus Sarcococca (Buxaceae). Bot J Linn Soc 92:43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland BL, Galloway LF (2017) Postzygotic isolation varies by ploidy level within a polyploid complex. New Phytol 213:404–412. doi:10.1111/nph.14116

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Laere K (2008) Interspecific hybridisation within woody ornamentals. University Ghent, Ghent

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Laere K, Leus L, Van Huylenbroeck J, Van Bockstaele E (2008) Interspecific hybridisation and genome size analysis in Buddleja. Euphytica 166:445–456. doi:10.1007/s10681-008-9844-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Laere K, Hermans D, Leus L, Van Huylenbroeck J (2011) Genetic relationships in European and Asiatic Buxus species based on AFLP markers, genome sizes and chromosome numbers. Plant Syst Evol 293:1–11. doi:10.1007/s00606-011-0422-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Laere K, Hermans D, Leus L, Van Huylenbroeck J (2015) Interspecific hybridisation within Buxus spp. Sci Hortic 185:139–144. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2015.01.030

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Trier H, Hermans D (2005) Buxus. Stichting kunstboek, Oostkamp

    Google Scholar 

  • Von Balthazar M, Endress PK (2002) Reproductive structures and systematics of Buxaceae. Bot J Linn Soc 140:36

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie W-J, Leus L, Wang J-H, Van Laere K (2017) Fertility barriers in interspecific crosses within Viburnum. Euphytica 2013:18

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the ILVO technical staff for their support and skillful assistance, several interns for their time and patience while making chromosome counts, Ellen Dekeyser for her assistance in analyzing the AFLP results and BEST-Select CVBA (Belgium) for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ILVO (Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), Plant Sciences Unit, Applied Genetics and Breeding, Caritasstraat 39, 9090, Melle, Belgium

    Hanne Denaeghel, Katrijn Van Laere, Leen Leus & Johan Van Huylenbroeck

  2. Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Hanne Denaeghel & Marie-Christine Van Labeke

Authors
  1. Hanne Denaeghel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katrijn Van Laere
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Leen Leus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Johan Van Huylenbroeck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Marie-Christine Van Labeke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hanne Denaeghel.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Denaeghel, H., Van Laere, K., Leus, L. et al. Interspecific hybridization in Sarcococca supported by analysis of ploidy level, genome size and genetic relationships. Euphytica 213, 149 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-017-1934-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-017-1934-0

Keywords

  • Flow cytometry
  • Ornamental breeding
  • Chromosome counts
  • Buxaceae