Comparative Analysis of Four Buckwheat Species Based on Morphology and Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequences.

Buckwheat is a nutritional and economically crop belonging to Polygonaceae, Fagopyrum. To better understand the mutation patterns and evolution trend in the chloroplast (cp) genome of buckwheat, and found sufficient number of variable regions to explore the phylogenetic relationships of this genus, two complete cp genomes of buckwheat including Fagopyrum dibotrys (F. dibotrys) and Fagopyrum luojishanense (F. luojishanense) were sequenced, and other two Fagopyrum cp genomes were used for comparative analysis. After morphological analysis, the main difference among these buckwheat were height, leaf shape, seeds and flower type. F. luojishanense was distinguishable from the cultivated species easily. Although the F. dibotrys and two cultivated species has some similarity, they different in habit and component contents. The cp genome of F. dibotrys was 159,320 bp while the F. luojishanense was 159,265 bp. 48 and 61 SSRs were found in F. dibotrys and F. luojishanense respectively. Meanwhile, 10 highly variable regions among these buckwheat species were located precisely. The phylogenetic relationships among four Fagopyrum species based on complete cp genomes was showed. The results suggested that F. dibotrys is more closely related to Fagopyrum tataricum. These data provided valuable genetic information for Fagopyrum species identification, taxonomy, phylogenetic study and molecular breeding.

Plantlet Regeneration of Tartary Buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum Gaertn.) in Vitro Tissue Cultures.

Tartary buckwheat is an ancient annual dicotyledonous herb, which is widely distributed around the world, specifically in the high altitude area of southwestern China and in the hill region of Himalayan. The plantlet regeneration of tartary buckwheat via somatic embryogenesis or multiple shoot induction was investigated in two different tartary buckwheats, Yuanzi and Xichang. The regeneration ability of Yuanzi was better than Xichang tartary buckwheat, and the hypocotyls were better than cotyledons as tartary buckwheat plantlet regeneration explants via somatic embryogenesis. The most suitable medium for callus induction was Murashige and Skoog basal medium added 2 mg/L 2, 4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 1 mg/L Kinetin, which could reach up to 98.96% callus induction percentage. The plantlet regeneration percentage from callus of tartary buckwheat could reach up to 55.77%, which induced on 2.0 mg/L Benzyladenine and 1.0 mg/L KT in MS basal medium. In addition, maximum of multiple shoot induction percentage was 69.05%, which was observed in case of Yuanzi tartary buckwheat in MS basal medium with added 3.0 mg/L 6-BA and 1.0 mg/L Thidiazuron. Roots induction of regenerated plants were achieved on 1/2 MS basal medium with added 1mg/L Indole-3-Butytric acid, which has 75% survival after transferred regenerated plants to soil under field conditions.