DNA ploidy level of colchicine-treated hops (Humulus lupulus L.)

The genome doubling agent colchicine has been used effectively to obtain tetraploid plants when starting with diploid material. Since the plant meristem consists of many cells, as well as obtaining tetraploids, it is possible to obtain mixoploids (chimeras consisting of diploid and tetraploid tissue) after colchicine treatment. Flow cytometry was used to determine the DNA ploidy level of different tissues of individual hop plants following colchicine treatment of diploid hops. Plants that are shown to be mixoploid after analysis of leaf tissue can display higher levels of tetraploid nuclei in root tissue, such that they could be mistakenly classified as tetraploid. The hop variety Galena-4n, which was previously considered to be a tetraploid, is shown to be a mixoploid based on leaf material. However, Galena-4n consistently produces triploid progeny when crossed with a diploid hop variety, indicating that Galena-4n produces tetraploid reproductive tissues and is effectively a tetraploid from a breeding perspective. The results from this study indicate that care should be taken when determining the DNA ploidy level of an individual plant after exposure to genome-doubling agents based on single tissues and that leaf tissue is a choice material for flow cytometric analysis.