Salt-tolerant mutants of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.‘Marfona’) were obtained via gamma irradiation. Node explants of the Marfona potato plant were treated with various dosages of gamma irradiation, and the M1V2 and M1V3 clonal generations were developed. | Turk J Biol 36 (2012) 405-412 © TÜBİTAK doi: Induction of salt-tolerant potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) mutants with gamma irradiation and characterization of genetic variations via RAPD-PCR analysis Orkun YAYCILI, Sema ALİKAMANOĞLU Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, İstanbul University, 34459 Vezneciler, İstanbul - TURKEY Received: ● Accepted: Abstract: Salt-tolerant mutants of potato (Solanum tuberosum L. ‘Marfona’) were obtained via gamma irradiation. Node explants of the Marfona potato plant were treated with various dosages of gamma irradiation, and the M1V2 and M1V3 clonal generations were developed. Selection of salt-tolerant mutants was accomplished by in vitro selection media containing 50, 100, and 125 mM NaCl. Molecular-level differences between the control and mutant plants were elucidated using RAPD-PCR method, and the polymorphism rate according to the selected primers was calculated as . Genetic distances between the controls and mutants were also calculated, and related dendrograms were produced. On average the mutants were genetically different from the control plants. The greatest difference encountered between the control and mutants was 47%, which was detected in mutant plants produced by 20 or 30 Gy gamma irradiation and regenerated in selection medium containing 100 mM NaCl. Key words: Gamma radiation, in vitro mutagenesis, mutation breeding, potato, RAPD-PCR, salt stress Introduction Salinity is an environmental stress factor that impacts 25% of agricultural land. It has become a serious problem particularly in agricultural regions with the greatest crop yield potential such as the Mediterranean Basin, California, and Southeast Asia. Unless measures are taken it is estimated that by the year 2050 50% of agricultural lands could be suffering from excessive salinity, causing considerable damage to plant growth (1-3). In addition to preventing growth, salt stress can decrease .
