Proceedings of the XLV Italian Society of Agricultural Genetics - SIGA Annual Congress

Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy - 26/29 September, 2001

ISBN 88-900622-1-5

Poster Abstract

IN VITRO MUTAGENESIS OF GLOBE ARTICHOKE (CYNARA SCOLYMUS L.)

STAMIGNA C.*^,**, PANDOZY G.*^,**, ANCORA G.*, SACCARDO F.**

* ENEA C.R. Casaccia, Divisione Biotecnologie e Agricoltura, Roma e ²Università della Tuscia,Dipartimento Produzione Vegetale, Viterbo

ancora@casaccia.enea.it; saccardo@unitus.it

artichoke, mutants, micropropagation

In vitro propagation and mutagenesis have been utilised to induce genetic variability in Italian cv. C3 (Romanesco type) of globe artichoke. The main traits observed for the isolation of mutants consist in the reduction of plant height, earliness, contemporaneity of flowering time, size and colour of buds.

In preliminary experiments, in vitro grown shoots were treated with different doses of gamma rays (0, 20, 40, 60 Gy) to determine the LD50. Afterwards a dose of 40 Gy was utilised to mutagenize micropropagated shoots. About 1,000 shoots, maintained on the propagation medium, were treated with gamma rays in two different experiments. After irradiation, the shoots were transferred on fresh medium and were then multiplicated for two cycles of in vitro propagation, before rooting and acclimatation phases according to the procedure adopted by VITROPLANT.

Plantlets were transplanted into the field during September and subsequently analysed for induced mutations in the next spring.

The analysis of the experimental material has shown that irradiation has generated a lot of variation. In particular, mutants for colour and size of bud, plant size have been isolated even though, is still continuing the analysis to confirm the stability of induced mutations to isolate solid mutants.