Question

Colchicine is used widely to induce polyploidy in

• A. Animals only
• B. Plants only
• C. Both A and B
• D. None of the above

Answer 1

The correct option is B Plants only

Colchicine is a toxic chemical that is often used to induce polyploidy in plants. Basically, the colchicine prevents the microtubule formation during cell division, thus the chromosomes do not pull apart like they normally do. The end result is a cell, that now has double the number of chromosomes that it would normally have. If this cell divides again in the future, then the doubled number of chromosomes are passed to the offspring cells. Plants that have more than the normal two sets of chromosomes are termed polyploid in general, although specific names are given to the certain chromosome numbers.
Polyploid plants are generated in an effort to create new plants that have new characteristics.

In general, plants are relatively tolerant of extra chromosome sets - 30 to 80 percent of all flowering plants are polyploids - whereas extras chromosome sets are often lethal in animals.

Thus, the correct answer is option B.