<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> As a result of its domestication, breeding and subsequent commercialization, African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha H. Wendl.) has become the most famous and popular Saintpaulia species. There is interest in producing cultivars that have increased resistance to pests and low temperature, in the introduction of novel horticultural characteristics such as leaf shape, flower colour, size and form, and in improved productivity and enhanced flower duration in planta. In African violet, techniques such as the application of chemical mutagens (ethylmethanesulfonate, N-nitroso-N-methylurea), radiation (gamma (γ)-rays, X-rays, carbon ion beams) and colchicine have been successfully applied to induce mutants. Among these techniques, γ radiation and colchicine have been the most commonly applied mutagens. This review offers a short synthesis of the advances made in African violet breeding, including studies on mutation and somaclonal variation caused by physical and chemical factors, as well as transgenic strategies using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and particle bombardment. In African violet, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is affected by the Agrobacterium strain, selection marker, and cutting-induced wounding stress. Somaclonal variation, which arises in tissue cultures, can be problematic in maintaining true-to-type clonal material, but may be a useful tool for obtaining variation in flower colour. The only transgenic African violet plants generated to date with horticulturally useful traits are tolerant to boron (heavy metal) stress, or bear a glucanase-chitinase gene.</p></abstract>

As a result of its domestication, breeding and subsequent commercialization, African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha H. Wendl.) has become the most famous and popular Saintpaulia species. There is interest in producing cultivars that have increased resistance to pests and low temperature, in the introduction of novel horticultural characteristics such as leaf shape, flower colour, size and form, and in improved productivity and enhanced flower duration in planta. In African violet, techniques such as the application of chemical mutagens (ethylmethanesulfonate, N-nitroso-N-methylurea), radiation (gamma (γ)-rays, X-rays, carbon ion beams) and colchicine have been successfully applied to induce mutants. Among these techniques, γ radiation and colchicine have been the most commonly applied mutagens. This review offers a short synthesis of the advances made in African violet breeding, including studies on mutation and somaclonal variation caused by physical and chemical factors, as well as transgenic strategies using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and particle bombardment. In African violet, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is affected by the Agrobacterium strain, selection marker, and cutting-induced wounding stress. Somaclonal variation, which arises in tissue cultures, can be problematic in maintaining true-to-type clonal material, but may be a useful tool for obtaining variation in flower colour. The only transgenic African violet plants generated to date with horticulturally useful traits are tolerant to boron (heavy metal) stress, or bear a glucanase-chitinase gene.

African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha H. Wendl.): classical breeding and progress in the application of biotechnological techniques

Folia Horticulturae

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

As a result of its domestication, breeding and subsequent commercialization, African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha H. Wendl.) has become the most famous and...

African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha H. Wendl.): classical breeding and progress in the application of biotechnological techniques

Publié en ligne: 29 déc. 2017

Pages: 99 - 111

Reçu: 13 janv. 2017

Accepté: 23 mai 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/fhort-2017-0010

Mots clés
Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, Gesneriaceae, mutation, particle bombardment, somaclonal variation, transgenic

© by Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha H. Wendl.): classical breeding and progress in the application of biotechnological techniques

Publié en ligne: 29 déc. 2017

Pages: 99 - 111

Reçu: 13 janv. 2017

Accepté: 23 mai 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/fhort-2017-0010

Mots clésAgrobacterium-mediated transformation, Gesneriaceae, mutation, particle bombardment, somaclonal variation, transgenic

© by Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Mots clés
Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, Gesneriaceae, mutation, particle bombardment, somaclonal variation, transgenic