Detection of somaclonal variation in garlic (Allium sativum L.) using RAPD and cytological analysis

Plants were regenerated by somatic embryogenesis from long-term callus cultures derived from five garlic (Allium sativum L.) cultivars. Thirty-five of these plants were subjected to RAPD analysis. The frequency of variation was found to be cultivar dependent: approximately 1% in the two clones Solent White and California Late and around 0.35% in another three clones, Chinese, Long Keeper and Madena. Certain band changes were found in regenerants of different cultivars, suggesting the existence of a mutation-sensitive part of the garlic genome. The karyotypes of another 75 regenerants derived from the same callus cultures of three parental garlic clones were examined. Of these plants, 9.3% were found to be tetraploids, 4% aneuploid and 2.6% showed a change in the position of the secondary constriction. No association could be shown between the rate of variation for molecular and cytological characters either by comparing cultivars or examining individual regenerants. Received: 30 July 1996 / Revision received: 28 October 1996 / Accepted: 12 November 1996