Phenotypic and molecular cytogenetic variability in calendula (Calendula officinalis L.) cultivars and mutant lines obtained via chemical mutagenesis

Abstract

The morphological, meiotic and chromosomal variability were studied in two cultivars of Calendula officinalis L. and their mutant lines obtained though chemical mutagenesis using diethyl sulphate (DES) (0.04%, 0.08%) and dimethyl sulphate (DMS) (0.025%, 0.05%). The studied cultivars displayed different sensitivity to DMS and DES mutagens. More M1 plants with morphological changes were observed in C . officinalis cv. ‘Zolotoe more’ than in cv. ‘Rajskij sad’. DMS and DES at low concentrations had positive effects on main agro-metrical traits in both cultivars including plant height, inflorescence diameter and number of inflorescences per plant. Dose-dependent increase in number of various meiotic abnormalities was revealed in both mutant lines. Comparative karyotype analysis and FISH-based visualization of 45S and 5S rDNA indicated a high level of karyotype stability in M1 and M2 plants. Seed treatments with DMS and DES at certain concentrations resulted in higher yields of inflorescences in M1 plants compared to the control. In M2 generation, dose-dependent reduction in the yields of inflorescences was observed. Our findings demonstrate that DMS and DES at low concentrations have great potential in calendula mutation breeding.

Agro-Morphological, Microanatomical and Molecular Cytogenetic Characterization of the Medicinal Plant Chelidonium majus L.

“…In all studied C. majus karyotypes, the FISH procedure revealed 45S rDNA loci in three chromosome pairs, 1, 4 and 6. The size heteromorphism of 45S rDNA clusters observed between homologous chromosomes of some individuals can be related to different activity of NORs in these chromosomes, which was also detected in other species of plants and animals [ 36 , 62 ]. Major 5S rDNA clusters were revealed on two chromosome pairs, 3 and 4.…”

“…In the present study, plants of double-flowered morphotypes were revealed within the normal-flowered C. majus population (K 171-1) and then cultivated as a separate population (K 211). It was previously shown that double-flowered plants could appear spontaneously within normal-flowered populations due to the impact of natural or artificial mutagenic factors [ 35 , 36 ]. According to our observations, double-flowered C. majus plants were short-stemmed, had high fertility rate and produced viable seeds and stable yields.…”

Effect of Colchicine treatment on the cariology and morphology signs of Polemonium caeruleum L.

“…Two new varieties of Calendula officinalis the "Zolotoe more" and the "Rajskij sad" was develop by colchicines treatment [15].…”

Artificial Chromosome Doubling in Allotetraploid Calendula officinalis

“…For C. officinalis either 28 or 32 chromosomes are mentioned, depending on the author (Rice et al, 2015). Garcia et al (2010) reported 28 chromosomes while a recent study (Samatadze et al, 2019) reported 32 chromosomes. In the present study, chromosomal slides were prepared and an ideogram was made based on the counted number of 32 chromosomes.…”

“…FISH using 45S and 5S rDNA is a valuable method to study plant evolution and ploidy levels (Kirov et al, 2017) and has been used in species such as Chrysanthemum (Kondo and Abd El-Twab, 2002; Abd El-Twab and Kondo, 2013), Alium fistulosum (Kirov et al, 2017), Gossypium hirsutum L. (Andres and Kuraparthy, 2013), Prunus species (Schmöllerl, 2009) for the identification of chromosome sets, chromosome numbers, copies and ploidy level. Recently, 45S and 5S rDNA FISH was used to assess the cytogenetic variability of C. officinalis after chemical mutagenesis (Samatadze et al, 2019).…”