Journal of Heredity Advance Access originally published online on January 4, 2006
Journal of Heredity 2006 97(1):39-44; doi:10.1093/jhered/esj007
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Induction of Tetraploid Derivatives of Maize Inbred Lines by Nitrous Oxide Gas Treatment
From 117 Tucker Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. Akio Kato is now at the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto-shi, Sakyo-ku, Shimogamo Hangi-cho 1-5, Kyoto 606-0823, Japan
Address correspondence to Akio Kato at the address above, or e-mail: katoa{at}kpu.ac.jp.
Maize (Zea mays L.) is a model organism for various genetic and physiological studies. Induction of autotetraploid lines from elite inbred lines is valuable for investigating gene dosage effects on the molecular level. We applied nitrous oxide gas at the time of fertilization (3036 h after pollination) for 20 h on maize inbred line Oh43. The nitrous oxide gas treatment between pressures of 6001000 kPa proved to be effective in inducing tetraploids. The treatment also significantly increased the rates of germless and shriveled kernels. Twelve inbred lines were treated with nitrous oxide gas for 20 h at either 800 or 900 kPa pressures, 30 or 36 h after pollination. Although tetraploid or tetraploid class aneuploid plants from 9 of 12 inbreds tested were successfully generated, only six genotypes produced progenies. The successful tetraploid inbred lines were from the A188, B73, H99, Oh43, Stock 6, and W22 genetic backgrounds. Aneuploids, plants with broken chromosomes and chimeras, were also found among the treated materials.