Genetic instability in calamondin (Citrus madurensis Lour.) plants derived from somatic embryogenesis induced by diphenylurea derivatives.
Somatic embryos were regenerated in vitro from calamondin style-stigma explants cultured in the presence of N (6)-benzylaminopurine (BAP) cytokinin and three synthetic phenylurea derivatives, N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-N-phenylurea (4-CPPU), N-phenyl-N'-benzothiazol-6-ylurea (PBU) and N,N'-bis-(2,3-methilendioxyphenyl)urea (2,3-MDPU). The phenylurea derivative compounds tested at micromolar level (12 muM) were able to induce a percentage of responsive explants significantly higher from that obtained with BAP and hormone-free (HF) conditions. In order to verify the genetic stability of the regenerants, 27 plants coming from different embryogenic events were randomly selected from each different culture condition and evaluated for somaclonal variations using inter-simple sequence repeat and random amplified polymorphic DNA analyses. We observed that 2,3-MDPU and PBU gave 3.7% of somaclonal mutants, whereas 4-CPPU gave 7.4% of mutants. No somaclonal variability was observed when plantlets were regenerated in BAP or HF medium. Although diphenylurea derivatives show a higher embryogenic potential as compared to BAP, they induce higher levels of somaclonal variability. This finding should be taken in consideration when new protocols for clonal propagation are being developed.
Siragusa
Mirko
M
Institute of Plant Genetics (Section Palermo), National Research Council, Corso Calatafimi 414, 90129 Palermo, Italy.
Carra
Angela
A
Salvia
Lidia
L
Puglia
Anna Maria
AM
De Pasquale
Fabio
F
Carimi
Francesco
F
D002224:Carbanilides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002957:Citrus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D016296:Mutagenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D046509:Tissue Culture Techniques
D002224:Carbanilides; D003470:Culture Media