Polyploid induction has been used for plant breeding to produce bigger and more robust plants than diploid types. The present study aimed to develop a methodology for in vitro induction of polyploidy in cassava. Apical and lateral microcuttings from the BRS Formosa variety were treated with six oryzalin concentrations for 24 and 48 h. The same methodology was used for colchicine with different concentrations. After 45 days of cultivation and an additional 45 days of subculture, the viability of the explants was assessed and plant acclimatization was performed.
No information is available on segregation analysis of DNA markers involving both pollen and self-progeny. Therefore, we used capillary electrophoresis- and fluorescence-based DNA fingerprinting together with single pollen collection and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to investigate simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker segregation among 964 single pollens and 288 self-progenies (S1) of sugarcane cultivar LCP 85-384. Twenty SSR DNA fragments (alleles) were amplified by five polymorphic SSR markers. Only one non-parental SSR allele was observed in 2392 PCRs.
This is the first report of meiotic division in Urochloa adspersa (Trin.) collected from the Brazilian Chaco. Meiotic analyses were performed on three specimens of U. adspersa named G10, G15, and G16. Inflorescences were collected and fixed in a mixture of ethanol and acetic acid (3:1, v/v) for 24 h and then stored in 70% alcohol. Diakinesis revealed different chromosome numbers and ploidy levels. All three plants were polyploids: G10 and G15 exhibited 2n = 6x = 54 chromosomes (arranged in 27 bivalents), while G16 exhibited 2n = 4x = 36 chromosomes (18 bivalents).
