In the process of polyploid induction, the combination of
colchicine concentration and treatment duration is critical.
Typically, high concentrations of colchicine coupled with short
durations of treatment or, conversely, low concentrations of
colchicine coupled with long durations of treatment are preferred.
In Lespedeza formosa, 0.2% colchicine applied with a 24 h treatment
duration and 0.1% colchicine concentration with a 36 h treatment
duration had similar success in polyploid induction (Li et al., 2007).
In Colophospermum mopane, the frequency of induced tetraploids
was increased to 100% when seeds were treated with 0.05%
colchicine for 96 h, a level that was also achieved following
treatment with 0.1% colchicine for 48 h, or 1.0% colchicine for 24 h
(Rubuluza et al., 2007). The results of the study reported here
indicated that a concentration of 0.2% colchicine applied for 96 h or
0.5% colchicine applied for 48 h had similar levels of effectiveness
for polyploid induction in ‘‘Yin Wei’’. Such observations underline
the importance of finding the optimum combination of colchicine
concentration and treatment duration in order to achieve
polyploidy-induction in the different plant species.