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Nitrous Oxide‐Induced Chromosome Doubling of Maize Haploids
Author(s) -
Molenaar Willem S.,
Schipprack Wolfgang,
Melchinger Albrecht E.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci2017.07.0412
Subject(s) - biology , nitrous oxide , germination , ploidy , colchicine , horticulture , agronomy , genetics , ecology , gene
Doubled haploid (DH) production is an important step in varietal development in maize ( Zea mays L.), and the success rate of chromosome doubling determines a major portion of the production costs per DH line. Colchicine, the standard chemical used for chromosome doubling, is highly toxic and requires special disposal. In comparison, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is a relatively safe gas with simple disposal requirements. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare chromosome doubling treatment of maize seedlings with N 2 O with the standard colchicine treatment and a recently proposed alternative herbicide treatment containing amiprophos‐methyl and pronamide in two environments suitable for DH production (DH nursery and greenhouse). Various treatment factors, including different pressures and concentrations of N 2 O, O 2 , and air in the treatment chamber, imbibition duration, and treatment duration were analyzed for their effect on survival rate of germinated seedlings, reproduction rate measured as the proportion of haploid (D 0 ) plants with seed set, and overall success rate (OSR) measured as the proportion of D 0 plants with seed set obtained from the germinated seedlings. The OSR of the best N 2 O treatment ranged from 6.4 to 33.3%, whereas the OSR of colchicine ranged from 5.0 to 28.1%, depending on the year and environment. Nitrous oxide treatment did not have a significantly different OSR than herbicide treatment. In conclusion, N 2 O treatment is a competitive alternative to colchicine and herbicide treatments for chromosome doubling and offers safety and disposal‐related benefits.