A stock breeder does ripe business when he can deliver the varieties his clients ask for . In the yesteryear , this would signify walk through the trials with a want list , now it more often than not means putting his material under the microscope . It is there , with the assistant of more and more accurate technique and deliberation modelling , that he can work faster and with more preciseness .
One of the technique that has been at his disposal for years now , is flow cytometry . This proficiency can be used to see how much DNA and set of chromosomes – ‘ ploidy ’ in technical price – a certain part of flora material check . That info in itself can already be used to answer essential questions , telling the stock breeder if it ’s utile to go further down a certain route , and whether the expectations he has of his breeding programs , are realistic .
to instance this , we should distinguish between ornamental and vegetable stock breeder , according to Eloy Boon , General Manager of Iribov , a company that specialise in flow cytometry . Iribov has a large bit of breeders among its clients , having built a unfaltering reputation in applying lab technique in breeding and propagation . Partly thanks to tight cooperation with a developer and producer of flow cytometers , the technical cognitive process of flow cytometry has been automatize importantly .
Flowcytometer
OrnamentalsThere are roughly three applications that can leave an decorative stock breeder to resort to flow cytometry . First , throughout the chronicle of facts of life , many ornamental crop have been brought to a higher ploidy level . That is , diploid – plants with cells bear double chromosome set , like human beings have as well – have often been grow into tetraploids , and sometimes even hexaploids or octoploids . For many flora and flowers , this leads to a more compact plant life , a fast leaf and larger flowers . Knowing the exact ploidy level for each plant support the stock breeder in his decisions .
If a stock breeder knows the ploidy level of a sure plant , he already has more certainty on if , and to what extent , improvements can be reach when bear on with the plant material in interrogative .
An example of chromosome double . leave the original diploid , right the doubled tetraploid variety with larger efflorescence .
Something else that occurs relatively often in ornamental craw , is that a breeder loosely parcel out with cross that are unfertile . That is , varieties that do have the desired calibre , but are n’t fertile . When those varieties can be bring to a higher ploidy level , the variety antisepsis can be broken , and the fertility of the plants restored .
A third program of ploidy determination lies with crossbreeding diploid and tetraploid varieties . The result of this cross is triploidy , which secure the flora is sterile . This way , the breeder provides his genetic science with a natural protection , prevent contender from putter with it . That ’s why breeders often come to Iribov ask for a diploid industrial plant to be made into a tetraploid . The breeder can then crossbreed this back into a triploid , lead in his own ' protected ' variety .
VegetablesFor vegetable education , in gain to the above - cite technique , there are a numeral of specific applications for flow cytometry .
For instance , flow cytometry is used by Iribov in detecting dihaploids , which can be used for inbred lines . Using a microspore , the pollen food grain or male reproduction cell , it is possible to make haploid plants , with only one of each chromosome . If you then double up those into a diploid , you stop up with a so - call homozygous line : a double haploid , that is , a potpourri in which the chromosome set are identical . The offspring from this seed is also all identical , which is the ground why this has become the de facto criterion in the output of a number of crop . However , the production of these dihaploids also give haploid , diploid and tetraploids . Flow cytometry can then be used to select the trust haploid plants .
Another often used software of period cytometry is quality analysis of seed batches ; is a cum batch of good timber and homogenous ? An good example : Seedless watermelons are generally triploids . By definition , these are hybrid between a diploid and a tetraploid line . But if , as happens sometimes , something proceed wrong in the production of the seed , part of it turns out to be diploid or tetraploid as a result of that . This still yields utterly fine melons , but some of them will contain seeds . Using flow cytometry , a sample distribution of , say , 200 seeds , can be examined to estimate the per centum of triploids .
A third , related software of flow cytometry , is the timely prevention of another type of mar that can occur in cum propagation . It could be compared to the Down syndrome in human beings : when disperse , seeded player can emerge that have an additional chromosome . Boon explain that this is mostly problematical in craw like cabbage and Brassica oleracea italica . When this pass , it ’s possible that a cauliflower , for instance , does n’t develop a straits , create it commercially inapplicable .
Aneuploid in Brassica . Left a good industrial plant , right a works with an supererogatory chromosome that cause unnatural growth and no cabbage shaping
double chromosomesAll things considered , it can be said that depending on whether it ’s ornamental or veg raising , there are various possibility when it comes to using flow cytometry .
The analytic laboratory at Iribov constantly receives leaf samples from around the reality , looking for the proper answer for the questions that arrive with it . Flow cytometry is just one tool , but the laboratory boasts a range of techniques . For instance , Iribov specialise in doubling chromosome numbers . " Human organism have 23 chromosome pairs " , Boon explicate . " That ’s always the lawsuit - that is to say , the ploidy level is stable . People are always diploid . But in plants , that ’s more pliant . In world-wide , we can double the chromosome issue of any industrial plant . In many crops , that has already bump over the course of their reproduction history . In glad for instance , which are often octoploid , having gone from diploid to tetraploid to octoploid . While that can happen spontaneously , it ’s been done artificially for a long prison term now . We ’re capable to do that in our laboratory . If you want to check whether it ’s been done right , you could do that famously through flow cytometry . "
Counting chromosomesAs a medical specialist in ploidy finding , Iribov has decide to confirm their customers with a proficiency that provides even more selective information about the plant .
" More and more , we ’re asked how many chromosomes certain plant material actually has " , Boon conclude . " That is useful information when you want to cross or backcross . How many and which chromosomes from both parents appear in the hybrid ? Through interbreeding , it ’s potential that random chromosome from one of the parents disappear . The small differences can only be demonstrated through a chromosome count . Because of this elaboration in our expertness , we ’ve added a specialist in this area to our team . We also begin a partnership with Wageningen UR . They have a department that administer with this and similar techniques , but does n’t focus on the development of routine procedures . "
ContactThe commercial team at Iribov was recently expanded with Rick Vreugdenhil , who will mainly rivet on the activities of the analytical laboratory . For questions about flowing cytometry and chromosome counting , you may contact Rick .
IribovSBWMiddenweg 591b1704 BH HeerhugowaardThe NetherlandsTel +31 ( 0 ) 72 5742427Fax +31 ( 0 ) 72 5710756Email:[email protected ]
Rick VreugdenhilEmail:[email protected]Internetwww.iribov.com
