Institute of Plant Breeding Seed Science and Population Genetics, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany.
Protoplasma. 2010 May;241(1-4):99-104. doi: 10.1007/s00709-009-0103-2. Epub 2010 Feb 3.
Mitosis in plants can be blocked by colchicine which has the capacity to bind microtubule subunits. In maize (Zea mays L.) breeding, it is frequently being used for doubling chromosome numbers of haploids for producing homozygous doubled haploids. However, colchicine is highly toxic for mammals and impacts negatively on the environment. Therefore, it was interesting to find substitutes like chemical compounds and/or physical methods which would be capable of doubling chromosome numbers in maize. For this purpose, a screening system was set up using root tips of maize. Herbicides like amiprophos methyl, oryzalin, and pronamide were identified to be effective in doubling chromosome sets of maize. Additionally, the toxicity of these compounds was lower than that of colchicine and treated seedlings recovered and grew. Therefore, they could be applied in reduced concentrations showing results comparable to colchicine.
植物中的有丝分裂可以被秋水仙素阻断，秋水仙素能够结合微管亚基。在玉米（Zea mays L.）育种中，秋水仙素经常被用于将单倍体的染色体数量加倍，以产生纯合的加倍单倍体。然而，秋水仙素对哺乳动物具有高毒性，并对环境产生负面影响。因此，寻找替代品，如化学化合物和/或物理方法，以在玉米中加倍染色体数量是很有趣的。为此，使用玉米根尖建立了一个筛选系统。发现像草铵膦甲酯、哇草酮和敌草隆这样的除草剂能够有效地使玉米的染色体组加倍。此外，这些化合物的毒性低于秋水仙素，处理过的幼苗恢复并生长。因此，它们可以在较低的浓度下应用，显示出与秋水仙素相当的效果。
