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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #374267
Research Project: Management of Priority Legume, Oilseed, Vegetable, Forage Grass, Sugar, Ornamental, and Medicinal Plant Genetic Resources and Associated Information

Location: Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research

Title: Bolting and flowering response of Lactuca georgica, a wild lettuce relative, to low temperatures

Author
item BEHARAV, ALEX - University Of Haifa
item Hellier (ctr), Barbara

Submitted to: American Journal of Plant Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/28/2020
Publication Date: 12/31/2020
Citation: Beharav, A., Hellier, B.C. 2020. Bolting and flowering response of Lactuca georgica, a wild lettuce relative, to low temperatures. American Journal of Plant Sciences. 11:2139-2154. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2020.1112150.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2020.1112150

Interpretive Summary: We investigated what might trigger the reproductive process in Lactuca georgica, a wild relative of lettuce. We used seed collected from native populations in Armenia and Dagestan, Russian Federation and looked at various low temperature treatments on how long it took the plants to produce a flower stalk, flowers and seed in experiments over 4 years. We demonstrated that low temperatures play a major role in stimulating the reproductive process in L. georgica plants. We found that for L. georgica 1) there is an obligatory, or nearly so, cold requirement for stimulating flowering, 2) not all the populations reacted the same to the treatments, 3) more study is needed to determine the best solution for stimulating flowering but the focus should be on using 4-6 months of cold treatment at 4C to plants 10-22 months old with controlled conditions after the cold treatment. L. georgica germplasm could be used as a source of delayed bolting in breeding cultivated lettuce varieties.

Technical Abstract: To learn about the phenological adaptation of Lactuca georgica Grossh., a wild relative of domesticated lettuce, we studied seed sampled accessions obtained from individual plants at 19 locations throughout six regions in Armenia, and from two natural populations in Dagestan (Russian Federation) collected as bulk samples. The effects of various vernalization treatments on time to bolting, flowering and seed production time were investigated during four successive years at different growth stages of L. georgica plants. We demonstrate that low temperatures play a major role in stimulating the reproduction process of L. georgica plants. Our results would suggest that for L. georgica: 1) There is an obligatory (or nearly so) vernalization requirement; 2) Plant age, vernalization duration, and genotype of original sample have a role in bolting and flowering regulation; 3) Some plants behaved as typical annuals, responding to vernalization treatment at the seedling stage, but, most did not; 4) Four months of vernalization could be adequate to reach bolting in plants with a developed vegetative rosette, for most—but not all—samples; 5) In order to find the best solution for stimulating the reproductive process of multiple genotypes, it seems that further study should focus on about 4 - 6 months of vernalization at 4°C applied to plants of about 10 - 22 months old vegetative rosettes, with controlled post-vernalization condition; 6) L. georgica germplasm could be used as a source for delayed bolting in breeding of domesticated lettuce varieties.