Somaclonal variation and induced mutation are highly valuable sources of genetic variation for genetic improvement and research in horticultural crops; cellular and molecular characterization can greatly facilitate their uses in these areas. In the present study, 20 caladium variants were identified among ‘Tapestry’ plants that were regenerated from leaf cultures treated with or without colchicine. These variants showed changes in leaf main vein color and coloration pattern and were separated into ten groups based on leaf morphological changes. Five variants contained 3.3–9.7% more nuclear DNA than the wildtype and gained one, two or three chromosomes, while four variants contained 3.0–4.8% less nuclear DNA and lost one chromosome. Five, out of 22, simple sequence repeat-based molecular markers detected DNA banding pattern changes in 13 of the 20 variants. Two molecular markers (CaM24 and CaM62) detected DNA banding pattern changes in the same four variants, suggesting that these two markers may be located in the same chromosomal segment. Strong association between leaf characteristics (leaf blotching and main vein color) and molecular banding pattern changes with molecular marker CaM42 were observed in six variants, indicating that CaM42 may be associated with gene loci controlling leaf blotching and leaf main vein color in caladium.

体细胞克隆变异和诱导突变是遗传变异的极有价值的来源，可用于园艺作物的遗传改良和研究。细胞和分子表征可以极大地促进它们在这些领域的使用。在本研究中，从“经秋水仙碱处理或不经秋水仙碱处理过的叶片培养物中再生”的“ Tapestry”植物中鉴定出20种钙变体。这些变体显示出叶片主脉颜色和着色模式的变化，并根据叶片形态变化分为十组。与野生型相比，五个变体所含核DNA含量高3.3–9.7％，并获得一，二或三条染色体，而四个变体所含核DNA含量低3.0–4.8％，并丢失一条染色体。五分之二十二 基于简单序列重复的分子标记检测到20个变体中的13个的DNA条带模式变化。两个分子标记（CaM24和CaM62）在相同的四个变体中检测到了DNA条带模式的变化，表明这两个标记可能位于同一染色体片段中。在六个变体中观察到叶片特征（叶片斑点和主脉颜色）与分子条带模式变化与分子标记CaM42的强烈关联，表明CaM42可能与控制钙的叶片斑点和叶片主脉颜色的基因座相关。