Question

What is colchicine?

Answer 1

Colchicine:

1. Colchicine is an alkaloid derived from Colchicum autumnale, commonly known as autumn crocus.
2. It prevents cells from forming spindles during mitosis, preventing chromosomal segregation during anaphase.
3. As a result, colchicine induces multiple sets of chromosomes.
4. Colchicine has its uses in the field of cytology, genetics, and plant breeding research and also in cancer therapy to suppress cell division.
5. Colchicine is also used to produce fertile hybrids between species with different chromosome numbers.
6. The plant breeders use colchicine to grow plants with the desired characteristics.