title: Effect of gamma-ray radiation on physiological, morphological characters and chromosome aberrations of minitubers in Solanum tuberosum L.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of gamma-ray radiation on the physiological, morphological characters and chromosome aberrations of minitubers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Minitubers of one potato cultivar, 'Shepody', were irradiated with 8 doses of gamma-rays (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 Gy [Gray]) to investigate the effects of radiation on emergence ability, plant height and root length, morphological variations, chromosome aberrations, M(1) (first generation mutants) tuber number and size of minituber plants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the non-irradiated controls, the whole period of emergence was prolonged by 10-15 days for minitubers treated with gamma-ray radiation, but low doses of radiation (10, 20 and 30 Gy) promoted the emergence percentage of minitubers. With an increase in radiation dose, the emergence percentage, plant height and root length of minituber plants were significantly inhibited at 40 and 50 Gy. No emergence occurred at 60 Gy and higher doses. After radiation, a series of morphological variations and chromosome aberrations appeared in minituber plants. Radiation with 20 Gy promoted tuber formation, and the average number and diameter of M(1) tubers per plant were significantly increased over the control by 71% and 34%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low doses of radiation (10-30 Gy) might be used as a valuable parameter to study the improvement of minitubers by gamma-ray radiation treatment.
authors.affiliation: College of Agronomy, Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lixiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Bibo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yuping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wenjian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005720:Gamma Rays; D035281:Plant Tubers / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D011198:Solanum tuberosum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*