I am interested to see if anyone has been able to induce a mutation of any sorts in their plants other than just breeding?
Anyone actually cause a mutation in their plants?
Not me. :)
That canna flower is absolutely mezmerizing. I love it. Karen
The only one in iris was the change of diploid siberians and some JI to tetraploid using colchine. The bearded plants especially those which became tet TBs seemed to do it on their own.
I grew some zinnias from cuttings last Fall, and that seemed to induce some apparent mutations. This zinnia had some leaves arranged in fours instead of the usual pairs.
MM
I also had widely different results on two different cuttings taken from the same plant. One cutting produced the flower shown in this link:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=4338303
Another cutting from the same plant produced the flower shown in this link:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=4338324
The second picture was very similar to the flowers on the parent "donor" plant. Asexual reproduction of zinnias is proving to be a valuable tool in my zinnia breeding project, but I continue to see evidence that the stress of a zinnia cutting turning into a zinnia plant can induce variations that look very much like mutations.
MM
This message was edited Mar 30, 2008 5:47 PM
This message was edited Mar 30, 2008 5:50 PM
This message was edited Mar 30, 2008 5:55 PM
I had a lot of trouble getting those links to work. That's why the three edits were made.
MM
would extra leaves help the zinnia by helping absorb more moisture? If not what would be the advantage? just interested in the benefits.
So your causing mutations with just cutting the plants? Or are you treating the plant or the cutting with something?
Iris,
"Would extra leaves help the zinnia by helping absorb more moisture?"
Actually, I think the roots are the main absorbers of moisture.The extra leaves would probably lose more moisture than they absorbed, but they could add to the photosynthetic ability of the plant. If a side branch arose at the base of each main-stem leaf, the plant could be bushier with a more symmetrical plant habit.
Mainly, I considered the four-leaf pattern as an interesting and rare curiosity. I have seen quite a few instances of zinnia leaves in threes, but this is the first time I saw the leaves in fours. If I have the opportunity, I will breed for a strain of zinnias that bears leaves on the main stem in threes, with the goal of a better looking plant. However I will be very surprised if I have an opportunity to breed zinnias with leaves in fours.
MM
bwilliams,
"So you are causing mutations with just cutting the plants?"
I don't know if my surgery on the plants to get the cuttings was a cause for the mutations, but I suspect it may have been a factor.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=149123
"Or are you treating the plant or the cutting with something?"
Indeed I am. I used several different rooting hormones, and I also sterilized the cuttings with Physan 20. I tried several different rooting hormones, including Rootone (with 1-napthaleneacetamide as the hormone and Thiram as a fungicide), Hormex No. 1, Hormex No. 3, and Hormex No. 8 (with increasing amounts of Indole 3 Butyric Acid as the hormone) and Dip 'n Grow (with both IBA and NAA rooting hormones).
All of those rooting hormones worked just fine, but the Hormex No. 1 seemed a little weak in its action. I was afraid the Hormex No. 8 might be too strong and be phytotoxic, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Any one or more of those chemicals mentioned (including the Physan 20) could have been a causative factor in the variations/mutations.
MM
This odd ball daylily was the result of treating daylily seeds with either Treflan or Surflan and DMSO.The first year blooms were as shown however the next year it did not and its seedlings never produced anything of interest.
Here is a the results of spiderwoth seeds also so treated It also reverted back to that of its parents.
This is the picture of the same spiderwort
Didn't they use DMSO at one time for arthritis? I seem to remember it used on horses too on their injuries, it goes right into the blood stream. Or am I thinking of something else? this was way back in the 70's.
It is still used on animals.
I would not recomend use on people.
It will carry anything on your skin into your blood stream.
I read within seconds you can taste it.
It is said that it tastes like garlic
The reason it is used with the chemicals as it helps carry it deep into the plant.
Charlie
This sounds like something I would like to try, they used to sell it at the pharmacy at that time, do they still sell it that way or is it controlled now?
I bought mine at the feed and seed store
It is a biproduct of paper mills
It is distilled from the black liquor skimmings
I quit using it as it is very dangerous in conjunction with other chemicals besides I got tired of killing my seeds.
The seedlings that did survive were not worth keeping.
You know, I think my grandmother used it on her legs and feet and mixed it with something else.. I don't know if it helped or not, but she lived to 92 years of age. I tried it on my arms too in the 70's ... I do remember I had to have really clean skin before I put it on, I don't remember any garlic taste though, I don't know if it helped, but I never got the pain in my arms again. I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, that's for sure.
Here is a link to the Wikipedia article on DMSO:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyl_sulfoxide
MM