Abstract
Polyploidy plays an important role in plant evolution and constitutes an important mechanism of diversification and creation of genetic variability. Artificial polyploidy can be induced using the colchicine. The aim of this study was to determine the Trigonella foenum-greacum (2n= 16) population which resists better to colchicine treatment and which has the highest rate of polyploid formation among 38 populations collected from different Tunisian regions. The comparative study between treated and control plants showed significant increases (p < 0.05) for the parameters survival rate, rate of malformed leaves appearance, stem height and seeds number by pod. The 38 treated populations showed significant variations (p < 0.05) between them for the parameters survival rate, branches number, stem height and seeds number by pod. Results also showed that treatment of the shoot meristem by colchicine allowed to obtain diploid (2n= 16) and mixoploid plants having mixoploid branches (4n = 32 and 2n= 16) and branches entirely tetraploid (4n = 32). The obtained rate of mixoploidy was 65.79% of treated plants. Among the 38 analyzed fenugreek populations, the population 15 of Menzel Temime presented the highest rate of mixoploids formation and survival rate to colchicine treatment.
Highlights
Plants of the genus Trigonella and of the cultivated species Trigonella foenum-graecum L. were known and used for different purposes in ancient times, especially in Greece and Egypt (Petropoulos, 2002)
The aim of this study was to determine the Trigonella foenum-greacum (2n= 16) population which resists better to colchicine treatment and which has the highest rate of polyploid formation among 38 populations collected from different Tunisian regions
Results showed that treatment of the shoot meristem by colchicine allowed to obtain diploid (2n= 16) and mixoploid plants having mixoploid branches (4n = 32 and 2n= 16) and branches entirely tetraploid (4n = 32)
Summary
Plants of the genus Trigonella and of the cultivated species Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (fenugreek) were known and used for different purposes in ancient times, especially in Greece and Egypt (Petropoulos, 2002). The importance of polyploidy in plants breeding arouses a considerable interest to induced polyploids development when the mitotic inhibitors were discovered for the first time in the thirties. At this time, the artificial polyploidy induction was discovered by using the colchicine which inhibits the formation of spindle fibers and temporarily arrests mitosis at the anaphase stage (Blakeslee and Avery, 1937). The artificial polyploidy induction was discovered by using the colchicine which inhibits the formation of spindle fibers and temporarily arrests mitosis at the anaphase stage (Blakeslee and Avery, 1937) At this point, the chromosomes have replicated, but cell division has not yet taken place resulting in polyploid cells (Ranney, 2006). A number of other mitotic inhibitors including oryzalin, trifluralin, amiprophos-methyl and N2O gas had been identified and used as doubling agents (Bouvier et al, 1994; van Tuyl et al, 1992; Taylor et al, 1976), but colchicine was preferred as polyploidi-
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