Use of Flow Cytometric Measurement of Nuclear DNA Content to Assess Ploidy Level in Azalea

Abstract

We evaluated flow cytometric measurement of nuclear DNA content to determine ploidy level in azalea. If ploidy level correlates with DNA content, ploidy level could be determined more readily than by direct chromosome counts and assist in planning crosses and evaluating progeny. Tested plants included azalea cultivars, materials from the azalea breeding project at the Univ. of Minnesota, and species from the Rhododendron Species Botanic Garden and the North Carolina Arboretum. Data compiled from DNA assays of practically all material analyzed fell into distinct groups consistent with their being either diploid, triploid, or tetraploid. Additionally, a known diploid plant of each of four diploid species, together with a natural or derived tetraploid plant of each of these species was obtained. Results showed that the four diploids had a similar DNA content compared to one another. DNA content of the tetraploids was also similar, and the tetraploid's DNA content was approximately twice that of the diploids, as expected. Unfortunately, success with direct chromosome counts in other material has proven elusive, currently precluding direct correlation of DNA amount with ploidy level across other species and cultivars. Although many cases exist in the literature where DNA content has a direct relationship to ploidy level, this does not always hold. Although the majority of plants tested fell into a diploid, triploid, or tetraploid grouping based on DNA content, further study is required to determine the exact relationship between ploidy level and DNA content in azalea.