Effect of water stress on growth of colchicine induced polyploid <i>Coccinia palmata</i> and </i>Lagenaria sphaerica</i> plants

Abstract

Polyploid induction was conducted by different colchicine concentration with seedlings of Coccinia palmata and Lagenaria sphaerica. Colchicine induced polyploid seedlings were grown in pots and subjected to varying levels of irrigation until they reached a flowering stage. The survival rate was best at colchicine concentration of 0.001 g/L in seedlings treated after three days of germination. Polyploidy induction was best at colchicine concentration of 0.01 g/L in seedlings treated after three days of germination. The induction rates for C. palmata and L. sphaerica were 90 and 86%, respectively. Compared with normal diploid plants, the polyploid plants of C. palmata and L. sphaerica inducted in our experiments had short stems. The polyploid induced plants had many active shoot apices,
increased leaf chlorophyll content and were more drought resistant compared with normal diploid plants.