Effects of mammalian sex hormones on regeneration capacity, retrotransposon polymorphism and genomic instability in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

Mammalian steroid hormones (MSH) are also inherently synthesized by several plant species. However, external application of steroid hormones further stimulates cell division, pollen germination, plant growth and development. There is little known about the effects of MSH on polymorphism and DNA damage in Triticum aestivum L under in vitro conditions. In this study, inter-primer binding site (iPBS) retrotransposon and coupled restriction enzyme digestion-iPBS (CRED-iPBS) markers were used for detection of the variation in responded embryogenic callus (REC) that were obtained from endosperm-supported mature embryo of wheat in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing different concentrations [0 (control), 10–4, 10–6 and 10–8 m mol L−1] of MSH (progesterone, 17β-estradiol, estrone and testosterone). Responded embryogenic callus (REC) and regenerable callus (RE) induction from mature embryos varied with MSH type and concentrations. The highest level of genomic template stability (GTS) value (80.52%) was obtained from 10–8 mM progesterone treatments to the lowest value (68.83%) from 10–4 mM 17 β-estradiol treatments. Epigenetic changes were more frequent and variable than the genetic changes. While DNA hypermethylation was observed at higher 17 β-estradiol concentrations, DNA hypomethylation was observed in progesterone treatments. It was concluded based on iPBS and CRED-iPBS findings that high MSH concentrations caused DNA changes and methylation.