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Blockage of mitosis in maize root tips using colchicine-alternatives

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Abstract

Mitosis in plants can be blocked by colchicine which has the capacity to bind microtubule subunits. In maize (Zea mays L.) breeding, it is frequently being used for doubling chromosome numbers of haploids for producing homozygous doubled haploids. However, colchicine is highly toxic for mammals and impacts negatively on the environment. Therefore, it was interesting to find substitutes like chemical compounds and/or physical methods which would be capable of doubling chromosome numbers in maize. For this purpose, a screening system was set up using root tips of maize. Herbicides like amiprophos methyl, oryzalin, and pronamide were identified to be effective in doubling chromosome sets of maize. Additionally, the toxicity of these compounds was lower than that of colchicine and treated seedlings recovered and grew. Therefore, they could be applied in reduced concentrations showing results comparable to colchicine.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Eiselen Foundation Ulm for the generous financial support of this study.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Breeding Seed Science and Population Genetics, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, University of Hohenheim, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    K. R. Häntzschel & G. Weber

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  1. K. R. Häntzschel
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  2. G. Weber
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Correspondence to K. R. Häntzschel.

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Häntzschel, K.R., Weber, G. Blockage of mitosis in maize root tips using colchicine-alternatives. Protoplasma 241, 99–104 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-009-0103-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-009-0103-2

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