Ploidy level determination within the context of in vitro breeding.

Ochatt, S.; Patat-Ochatt, E.; Moessner, A.

Variations in genome size and chromosome complement of species provide very useful information for biosystematic studies, and also because they influence a range of ecological characteristics. They are also of utmost importance for breeding, especially when in vitro biotechnology tools are used and the need arises to assess the trueness-to-type of regenerated plants. Thus, protocols have existed for a long time for chromosome counting, and more recently also for the determination of the relative nuclear DNA content and genome size. It has also been shown that these latter traits are strongly correlated to regeneration competence and, more generally, to developmental processes in plants. This article will briefly review such approaches from a methodological and breeding-oriented viewpoint.

GENETIC research; CYTOLOGY; FLOW cytometry; GENOMES; CHROMOSOMES; BIOLOGICAL classification; BIOTECHNOLOGY; DNA; PLANT biotechnology

Plant Cell, Tissue & Organ Culture, 2011, Vol 104, Issue 3, p329

0167-6857

Academic Journal

10.1007/s11240-011-9918-6