Subject: Re: polyploid

From: [email-masked] (RURALITE)
Date: 2 Jul 1996 04:08:23 -0400

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Liegon)
writes:

>Subject:	polyploid
>From:	[email-masked] (Liegon)
>Date:	29 Jan 1996 17:58:07 -0500
>
>Does anyone know how to induce polyploid on a plant without the use of
the
>chemical colchicine.  Thank you.
>
>
>-

Did you ever get a reply on this one?  If so, would you please share it?

---

From: [email-masked] (Henry Kuska)
Date: 3 Jul 1996 00:53:52 GMT

The following is a section that I scanned out of the book "Plants, A 
Guide to Plant Hobbies"" by Herbert S. Zim, Harcourt, Brace, and World,  
Inc., New York, 1947, Page 311. 
CHEMICALS AND PLANT EXPERIMENTS
        "The amateur should keep in mind that colchicine is a dangerous 
poison and that the powder or a concentrated solution should be handled 
with care. You can work with colchicine without handling it directly and 
it's recommended that you wash off any that does get on your skin.
   Another chemical which may be interesting to experiment with and which 
may produce the same effect as colchicine, is the ordinary moth ball 
chemical: napthalene. This chemical vaporizes easily and the vapors may 
also produce chromosome doubling in plants exposed to them. A related 
chemical acenaphthene is even more effective and works in a similar way. 
A small dish of these crystals is placed in a pan with germinating seeds 
and covered with a glass cover. Warm temperature increases the effect. As 
with colchicine it is advisable to try variations in exposure, using 
about the same periods of time-one to ten days. You have the same end in 
view, to get a long enough exposure to produce effects without killing 
the young plants. After exposure, the young plants will need careful 
attention. Watch for variations in leaf, thickened stems, and other signs 
of a changed growth pattern. Acenaphthene can be used on larger plants 
also. A sprouting twig can be enclosed in a cellophane bag with 
acenaphthene crystals. A flower, after pollination, can be similarly 
treated for possible effects on the fruit and seed. This chemical can be 
used in conjunction with hybridization.
     Whatever the experiment, the amateur should keep in mind that none 
of these chemicals is "a miracle worker." The chances of getting 
successful results are very slim. But it is just this gamble that has 
produced some of our most valuable and......."
                                            END OF PAGE
     Is anyone familiar with any more recent experiments using napthalene 
to double chromosomes?  I have noticed that when I would put moth balls 
into a rodent hole that the grass around the hole would die.