Abstract
THE usefulness of colchicine as a chemical in doubling chromosomes in plants was first reported by Blakeslee1, who obtained polyploids in Datura stramonium by treating its seeds with this alkaloid. Since then, colchicine has been extensively used for inducing polyploidy in many species of plants. In announcing an Indian source for colchicine, Parthasarathy2 reported that, if fresh extract of tubers of Gloriosa superba is applied to maize seed before sowing, the developing roots show tetraploid sectors. This confirmed the polyploidizing influence of the alkaloid colchicine present in these tubers, the isolation of which had been reported by Clewer, Green and Tutin3 in 1915.
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References
Blakeslee, A. F., J. Hered., 28, 393 (1937).
Parthasarathy, N., Curr. Sci., 10, 446 (1941).
Clewer, H. W. B., Green, S. J., and Tutin, F., J. Chem. Soc., 107, 835 (1915).
Subbaratnam, A. V., J. Sci. and Indust. Res., 11, 446 (1952).
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KUMAR, L. Doubling of Chromosomes induced by Gloriosine isolated from Gloriosa superba, Linn.. Nature 171, 791–792 (1953). https://doi.org/10.1038/171791b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/171791b0
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