Growth dynamics of morphological and reproductive traits of Physalis peruviana L. M1 plants obtained from seeds irradiated with gamma rays

Oscar M Antúnez-Ocampo,Eulogio De La Cruz-Torres,Manuel Sandoval-Villa,Amalio Santacruz-Varela,Aureliano Peña-Lomelí,Serafín Cruz-Izquierdo,Leopoldo E Mendoza-Onofre

doi:10.15835/nbha48111745

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in the development of uchuva (Physalis peruviana L.) cultivars adapted to greenhouse farming. Sexual behavior makes it difficult to obtain uniform commercial uchuva cultivars by conventional breeding methods. Mutations induced by gamma rays is an alternative approach. M1 plants derived from 14 irradiation 60Co doses, from 0 to 275 Gy, that were applied to uchuva seeds were evaluated. Recorded data included days to first flower and growth dynamics (four to seven samplings) of morphological traits (plant height, stem diameter, basal stems) and reproductive traits (floral buds, flowers and green fruits). Treatments were distributed in a completely randomized blocks experimental design with six replications, in a greenhouse. The experimental unit was a single M1 plant. Statistical differences were found for irradiation doses, growth samplings, and its interaction. Growth dynamics results indicate that all traits showed a linear increase with plant age (R2 = 0.92* to 0.98**), but the effect of the irradiation doses on morphological and reproductive traits was no linear. Irradiation reduced plant height by 79%. M1 plants developed from irradiated seeds at doses of 125, 175 and 200 Gy showed greater stem diameter, with more basal stems, floral buds, flowers and green fruits than the control. It is concluded that intermediate irradiation doses had a stimulating effect on vegetative growth and fruiting traits of M1 uchuva plants.

Highlights

Uchuva (Physalis peruviana L.) known as golden berry, is a perennial species that grows wild in tropical highlands (1500 to 3000 m, altitude) of Chile and Colombia (Rodrigues et al, 2009, Fischer et al, 2011)
As for P. peruviana and P. angulata (L.) when doses of 200, 400 and 500 Gy applied to seeds were compared, it was observed that the dose of 200 Gy increased the growth of the M1 plants while doses greater than 200 Gy inhibited it (Raghava and Raghava, 1989)
Literature references regarding uchuva traits measured throughout the biological cycle of the plant in order to monitor the effect of the application of artificial mutagens were not found

Summary

Introduction

Uchuva (Physalis peruviana L.) known as golden berry, is a perennial species that grows wild in tropical highlands (1500 to 3000 m, altitude) of Chile and Colombia (Rodrigues et al, 2009, Fischer et al, 2011). Uchuva can be sexually reproduced vegetative propagation techniques (cutting) can be used Sexual behavior makes it difficult to obtain uniform commercial uchuva varieties by conventional breeding methods because half of the flowers are open-pollinated, favoring allogamy (Santana and Angarita, 1997) while the rest are self-pollinated, as an autogamous species (Lagos et al, 2008). Artificial mutations may be induced by chemical and physical mutagens. The latter group refers to the application of X-rays, gamma irradiation (Mohan Jain, 2006; Yamaguchi et al, 2008), ultraviolet rays (Ahloowalia and Maluszynski, 2001), and carbon ion-beam irradiation (Wu et al, 2009, Matsumura et al, 2010). Drastic alterations are usually lethal, while slight changes might be favorable for some traits related to the growth, development and reproduction of the plant

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