Polyploidy Induction in Parsley (Petroselinum crispum L.) by Colchicine Treatment

The experiment was aimed to study the effect of colchicine concentrations (0.025, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2%) and treatment times (8, 24 and 48 h) on polyploidy induction and morphological characteristics in Petroselinum crispum. Polyploidy induction was carried out in two independent experiments; seed treatment under in vivo, and node treatment under in vitro condition. Polyploids were confirmed by chromosome counts, density and size of stomata and other morphological characters. The survival rate for nodes and seeds decreased significantly with increasing concentration of colchicine and its treatment duration. Moreover, the induction of polyploidy was better in the node explants compared with the seeds. The maximum amount of tetraploidization of plants from the seeds was achieved at 0.05% colchicine after 24 and 48 h incubation. The most induction of the tetraploid plants was observed 24 h after treatment with 0.05% and 0.1% colchicine under in vivo and in vitro conditions, respectively. Furthermore, morphological measurements revealed that the size of the stomata and leaves in tetraploid plants was larger than those in diploid plants. However, the density of stomata was decreased in tetraploid plants as compared to the diploids.