PLANT PROPAGATION

Choice of Methods

 Sexual
– Propagation by seed

 Asexual (vegetative)
– Cuttings
– Grafting
– Layering
– Division
Propagation Method Distinctions

 Sexual
– “True” to seed implies . . .
 No characteristics changed
 Cultivar termed a Line

– Line is homozygous
 Self-pollinated gives progeny like parent
 Cereals and vegetables are examples
Other Seed-propagated Cultivars

 Inbred lines
– Pure lines, self-pollinated and selected
– Used to produce hybrid cultivars

 Hybrids
– Example: hybrid corn
Propagation Method Distinctions

 Asexual (vegetative)
– Necessary when plant is heterozygous
– Heterozygous implies:
 Many dissimilar genes
 Meiosis segregates/recombines genes
 Seed propagation can’t maintain characteristics of
parent
Propagation Method Distinctions

 Asexual (cont)
– Used with heterozygous plants
 Piece of vegetative tissue
 Suitable environment
 “missing parts” develop
 Whole plant genetically identical to original
 Flower not involved in asexual propagation
Asexual Propagation Facts

 No genetic change (barring mutations)

 Heterozygous cultivars carried generations
 Cultivars are clones
 Numerous methods (see text, Table 14-2)
SEXUAL PROPAGATION

 Seed produced in flower

 Meiosis involved
 Reduction division yields haploid gametes
 Gametes combine in fertilization
 Zygote develops into embryo
SEED PRODUCTION

 Cultivar preservation

– Control of seed source essential

 If homozygous, self-pollinated . . .
– purity assured
 If homozygous but cross pollinating . . .
– Must separate plants
– Prevent pollen contamination
SEED CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

 Government standards
– Isolation
– Culling
– Inspection
– Final seed testing
– Harvesting equipment cleaning
CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS (cont)

 Four classes of seeds (agronomic crops):

– Breeder seed
 White tag; plant breeders
– Foundation seed
 White tag; public/private foundation stock
– Registered seed
 Purple tag; progeny of breeder/foundation
– Certified seed
 Blue tag; sold to farmers; known genetics and purity
Vegetable and Flower seeds

 Regulated by seed companies

 Seed purity continually tested

 Special test gardens

SEED FORMATION

 Seed essential parts:

– Embryo
 Develops into new plant
– Food storage material
 Nourishes embryo; endosperm/cotyledon(s)
– Seed coverings
 Seed coats/other parts ovary wall
SEED FORMATION (cont)

 Development

– Ovary to Fruit
– Ovule to Seed
– Integuments to Seed coats
– Nucellus to Perisperm
– 2 polar nuclei/1 sperm to Endosperm (3n)
– Egg nucleus/1 sperm to Zygote to Embryo (2n)
SEED STORAGE AND VIABILITY

 Some seeds short-lived

– Willow, maple, elm
 Others may live many years
– Hard-seeded legumes
 Many seeds range between extremes
 Often dependent on storage conditions
SEED VIABILITY TESTS

 Cut test
 Float
 X-ray

 Only tell you there is an embryo!

 Still don’t tell you the viability!
GERMINATION TEST

 % seedlings developing from seeds planted

– Use on seeds with no dormancy problems
– e.g. flower, vegetable, grain
 Several methods
– Moist paper towel (simple)
– Plant in seed flats (greenhouse)
– Germination chambers (seed-testing labs)
CHEMICAL TEST

 Tetrazolium Test
– Living tissue test
– Chemical reacts with enzymes in tissue
– Color change
– Interpretation variable
EXCISED EMBRYO TEST

 Used on wood plant species with dormancy

– Don’t respond in direct germination tests
 Embryo cut from seed
– Seed laboratory technique
– Moist paper tested in covered dish
– Viable embryos show activity (greening)
– Non-viable embryos remain white and die
SEED DORMANCY

 Dormancy may allow a seed to resist

germination even though conditions would be
favorable to germinate
 Survival mechanism
 May require specific techniques to overcome
TYPES OF SEED DORMANCY

 Seed coat dormancy

– Impermeable to water and gases (oxygen)
– Associated with hard seed coats
– Legumes, pine, birch, ash
– Natural weathering softens seed coat
– Artificial methods:
 Scarification
 Heat treatment
 Acid scarification
TYPES OF SEED DORMANCY

 Embryo dormancy
– Common in woody perennials
– Physiological conditions
– Germination blocks in embryo
– Break by stratification:
 Chilling temperatures
 Moisture
 Oxygen
 Time
ADDITIONAL DORMANCIES

 Double dormancy; e.g. Redbud

 Rudimentary embryos; e.g. Magnolia
 Chemical inhibitors:
– Coumarin
– Caffeic acid
– e.g. tomatoes, lemons, strawberries
 Secondary dormancy; e.g. some woodies
GERMINATION REQUIREMENTS

 Adequate moisture (varies with species)

 Proper temperature (varies with species)
 Good aeration
 Light (some cases)
 Free from pathogens
 Free from toxic salts
VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION

 Asexual – Not involving flowers or fusion of

egg and sperm
 Accomplished through mitosis:
– Nucleus contains genetics for entire plant
– Cells genetically identical
– Cells can still differentiate
– Capable of becoming any kind of cell
 Due to:
VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION

 Totipotency – ability of mature cell to return

to embryonic state and produce whole new
individual
- Plant cells easy
- Many plants use totipotency to self-propagate
 Importance – yields genetically identical plant
– Not possible with seed (sexual) reproduction
– Meiosis combines genes at random
VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION

 Mitosis produces:
– Adventitious roots
– Adventitious shoots
– Callus
VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION

 Used primarily for woody perennials

– Highly heterozygous
– Don’t breed true from seed
 Desirable characteristics lost

 Produces clones
– Fruit, nut, ornamental cultivars
– Many are ancient e.g. ‘Thompson Seedless’ grape
Cultivated Clones

 Two processes:
– Vegetative propagation of superior seedlings
 Typical method
 e.g. ‘Golden Delicious’ apple
– Mutations
 Bud sports; e.g. ‘Ruby’ from ‘Thompson Pink’
 Chimeras; e.g. variegated pink lemon (fig. 14-10)
 Range from slight to serious
– Depends on where in mitosis and where in plant
Apomixis

 Interesting phenomenon
– Asexual production of seedling from seed
formation in the usual sexual structures of the
flower but without the mingling and segregation of
chromosomes
– no union of male and female gametes

– Seedling characteristics same as maternal parent

Propagation by Cuttings

 Classified according to part of plant obtained

– Stem cuttings
 Hardwood
 Semi-hardwood
 Softwood
 herbaceous
– Leaf cuttings
– Leaf-bud cuttings
– Root cuttings
Grafting

 Joining of two separate plant structures

 Used on difficult to root plants
 Make use of particular rootstock
characteristics
Budding
Grafting and Budding Notes

 Cambial layers of stock and scion must meet

 Parts must be held securely
 Keep air out!
 Union heals by callus production from
parenchyma cells
 Adequate temperature for cell division
 There are limitations!
Layering
Additional Layering Techniques

 Simple layering (like tip layering)

 Mound layering
 Air layering
Other Plant Structures

 Runners (stolons); e.g. strawberries

 Suckers (adventitious shoots); e.g. blackberry
 Crowns (used in division)
 Specialized stems and roots
– Bulbs - Tuberous roots
– Corms - Rhizomes
– Tubers
Tissue Culture

 Micropropagation
– Utilizes small ‘explants’
– Callus formation
– Cell differentiation
– First used on ferns, orchids and carnations