Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Vegetable Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #339341
Title: Spontaneous polyploidization in cucumber

Author
item RAMIREZ-MADERA, AXEL - University Of Wisconsin
item Weng, Yiqun
item Havey, Michael

Submitted to: American Society of Horticulture Science Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/12/2017
Publication Date: 9/20/2017
Citation: Ramirez-Madera, A., Weng, Y., Havey, M.J. 2017. Spontaneous polyploidization in cucumber. 2017 ASHS Annual Conference.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Cucumber occasionally produces polyploid plants, which are problematic for growers because these plants produce misshaped fruits with non-viable seeds. In this study, we undertook the first quantitative study to estimate the frequency of spontaneous polyploids in cucumber. Seeds of recombinant inbred lines were produced in different environments, plants were grown in the field and greenhouse, and flow cytometry was used to establish ploidies. From over 1,000 plants, the overall frequency of spontaneous polyploidy was 2.2%. Plants possessed nuclei of different ploidies in the same leaves (mosaic) and on different parts of the same plant (chimeric). Our results provide evidence of endoreduplication and polysomaty in cucumber, and that it is an ongoing and dynamic process. There was a marginally significant effect of seed-production environment on the occurrence of polyploid plants. Seed and seedling traits were not accurate predictors of eventual polyploids, and we recommend that cucumber producers rogue plants based on stature and leaf serration to remove potential polyploids.