Developing micropropagation protocol for Rhamnus frangula cultivars and evaluating oryzalin treatments for polyploid development
Abstract
Rhamnus frangula is a commonly used landscape plant. The most pressing concern of R. frangula is its invasive and destructive nature if left unchecked. Many plants that are classified as invasive have restricted use in multiple U.S. states. A means of dealing with invasive landscape plants is to restrict their use in landscaping which is economically detrimental to the nursery trade. Another method is the production of sterile triploid cultivars via ploidy manipulation. Development of sterile, triploid R. frangula cultivars would prevent it from invading native ecosystems, while potentially improving other plant qualities such as cold tolerance and or life span. Rhamnus frangula is diploid and producing triploid varieties first requires the development of tetraploid varieties. These tetraploids could be bred with other diploids, which would result in triploid offspring. Oryzalin is a commonly used mutagen for inducing chromosome doubling. Chromosome doubling in R. frangula is an understudied area, with no information currently available. The aim of this research was to establish a protocol for developing a clonal propagation method utilizing tissue culture of R. frangula and to develop a protocol for oryzalin-induced tetraploidy of R. frangula. Presence of tetraploidy was confirmed using flow cytometry. Establishing a protocol for both micropropagation and polyploid induction for R. frangula can assist in the potential breeding and creation of sterile triploid cultivars.