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Frequency of somaclonal variation in plants of black spruce ( Picea mariana , Pinaceae) and white spruce ( P. glauca , Pinaceae) derived from somatic embryogenesis and identification of some factors involved in genetic instability
Author(s) -
Tremblay Laurence,
Levasseur Caroline,
Tremblay Francine M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.2307/2656920
Subject(s) - biology , somaclonal variation , pinaceae , black spruce , botany , somatic embryogenesis , salicaceae , clone (java method) , woody plant , genetics , pinus <genus> , embryo , tissue culture , gene , embryogenesis , taiga , ecology , in vitro
Plants of black spruce ( Picea mariana , N = 7047 individuals) and white spruce ( P. glauca , N = 3995 individuals) were regenerated from a total of 87 clones over a 5‐yr period by somatic embryogenesis to study factors that might be associated with the appearance of variant phenotypes. Morphological evaluation of the plants showed several types of variation. These variations were grouped into nine types: dwarfism (type A), reduced height with various form anomalies (types B, C, and D), needle fasciation (type E), abnormality in tree architecture (type F), variegata phenotype (type G), and plants with an overall regular morphology but smaller than normal plants (type H). Plagiotropic plants were also observed (type I). Each plant from types A to H (except type C where no plants survived more than 6 mo) had retained its phenotype over 4–5 yr of growth. Some of the variant types could be related to chromosomic instability: chromosome counts showed aneuploid cells for type‐A and type‐D plants. The type I (plagiotropism) was not related to genetic instability but rather to physiological disorders. In total, spruce variants of types A–H were obtained at relatively low frequencies, i.e., 1.0% (39/3995) for white spruce and 1.6% (110/7047) for black spruce. Statistical analyses, conducted with family, clone, and time in maintenance as variables, showed that clone was the most important source of genetic instability followed by time in maintenance.