Aspects of the Biology of Papaver Bracteatum Lind a New Crop For
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Tasmania Open Access Repository Aspects of the Biology of Papaver bracteatum Lind, a New Crop for Tasmania By Phani Raja Kumar Madam Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Tasmania Hobart March 2011 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis does not contain any material which has been accepted for a degree or diploma by the University of Tasmania or any other institution. To the best of my knowledge, this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text of this thesis. Phani Raja Kumar Madam This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. Phani Raja Kumar Madam ii | DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Philip Brown for his guidance, constant oasis of ideas and passion for science, which has inspired and enriched my development as a student, and scientist. I am indebted to him more than he knows. I gratefully acknowledge Dr. Alistair Gracie for his advice, supervision, and crucial contribution, which made him a backbone of this research and so to this thesis. His involvement with his originality has triggered and nourished my intellectual maturity that I will benefit from for a long time to come. His never say “no” attitude for any silly and painful questions I have asked him over the past two years makes him one of the „coolest‟ persons I have ever met. I gratefully acknowledge the support of Phil Andrews (Manager, Horticulture Research centre) in setting up glasshouse trials. His technical knowledge is second to none. Dr. David Ratkowsky and Dr. Samuel Adediran provided expert statistical advice. Andy Measham and Angela Richardson provided laboratory support, and Sally Jones and Jane Bailey provided administrative support. Thank you! I would like to acknowledge Dr. Karsten Goemann for assistance with operating the ESEM and Dr. Cameron Spurr for allowing me to use his seed grading equipment. I would also like to thank Dr. Peter Lane and Dr. Richard Doyle who have been helpful at various stages of my candidature. iii | ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The entire journey of 4 years of research would not be possible without the support of my friends Jane Evans, Anchana Ganesan, Meenatshi Nachiappan, Una Evans, Naveen Duppati, Dr. Bhim Khatri, Dr. Samuel Adediran, Dr. Shaun Suitor, Kieren Rix, Dr. Ifayanti Ridwan Saleh, Dr. Mandeep Kaur, Ang Geard, Penny Measham, Jessica Howard, Marek Matuszek, Tharshini Thiru, Wahyuni Husin, Anne Koshy, Dr. Lyndal Mellefont, Steven Ridge, Marcus Hardie, Sriram Padmanabhan, and Rolf Nilsson. To all my facebook friends, thanks! I apologise, “Mate”, if I inadvertently missed you off this list. It has been an honour to meet Prof Arieh Levy, who has worked with P. bracteatum for the past twenty years. Many thanks to Prof. Levy for supplying the seeds for this project. I have had the privilege of meeting Dr. John Laughlin. His enthusiasm for and knowledge of poppies is truly amazing. iv | ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Finally I would like to dedicate my thesis to the special people in my life who believed in me and made my long term dream of being a Doctor a possibility. Prof. Phil Brown (Mentor) Dr. Subba Rao Madam (Dad) Mrs. Vara Lakshmi Madam (Mom) Aravind Madam (M.Tech) (Brother) v | ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT Papaver bracteatum L, a species that accumulates high concentrations of the pharmacologically important alkaloid thebaine in its fruit capsules, has been identified as a potential new perennial crop in Tasmania, Australia. Previous attempts to establish the crop from seed in Tasmania have met with limited success, with slow and irregular emergence reported under field conditions and low flowering percentages in the year of planting. The recent availability of improved germplasm and advances in agronomic techniques associated with crop establishment has provided the impetus for a re-evaluation of P. bracteatum as a new horticultural crop. This project focussed on understanding aspects of the biology of P. bracteatum needed for the development of production strategies for the successful commercialisation of this crop in Tasmania, Australia. Papaver bracteatum seeds displayed no physiological dormancy and germinated in both light and dark conditions. The optimum temperature range for the germination was found to be between 18º and 25ºC, with lower and upper cardinal temperatures of 5ºC and 35ºC respectively. During storage, a decrease in germination viability of between 0.2% and 0.1% per week was recorded over a period of 100 weeks under 20˚C and ambient humidity conditions. Germination was found to be sensitive to water stress, with germination inhibited at water potentials of -0.1 and -0.3 MPa. It was concluded that sensitivity to water deficits may explain poor field emergence. Grading of seed-lots to retain the larger sized and denser seed fraction improved vi | ABSTRACT germination percentage and seedling vigour. During seed production, harvesting after the 70 DAFB resulted in the highest seed quality. Seedlings required an extended period of juvenile growth before they became competent to flower. Plants were capable of initiating flowering 20 weeks after planting when grown under glasshouse conditions and approximately 30 weeks after planting when grown under shade house conditions. The transition from juvenile to mature stages was found to correspond to a fully expanded leaf number of approximately 17. Leaf morphological characteristics used as phase change indicators in other species were shown not to be applicable in P. bracteatum. Trichome distribution and density, leaf size and plant height, which was a measure of leaf erectness and leaf length, varied considerably with growing conditions and did not provide a consistent value at the phase change that could be used as an indicator. Papaver bracteatum was shown to require a period of vernalisation to induce flowering. Results suggested that less than 4 weeks exposure to vernalising night temperatures can induce flowering that and adequate vernalisation may occur within a night temperature band of at least 5º to 10˚C. Observations also led to the conclusion that, unlike the annual opium poppy species P. somniferum, P. bracteatum does not have a daylength sensitive flowering response. Application of gibberellic acid to plants grown under marginally inductive conditions induced more rapid and more even flowering within the plant population. Knowledge of the flowering response in P. bracteatum was used to develop recommendations for planting time and production environment to ensure flowering and therefore high capsule yields in the season that the crop is planted. vii | ABSTRACT GLOSSARY ANOVA Analysis of variance CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation DAI Days after imbibition df degrees of freedom DAFB Days after Full Bloom DPIWE Tasmanian State Government Department of Primary Industries and Water and Environment DPIPWE Tasmanian State Government Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment ESEM Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope GA Gibberellic acid GSK GlaxoSmithKline HRC Horticultural Research Centre INCB International Narcotics Control Board IPM Integrated Pest Management ISTA International Seed Testing Association LDP Long day plant(s) LSD Least Significant Difference P Probability PACB Poppy Advisory Control Board PEG Polyethylene Glycol SAS Statistical Analysis Software SD Short day(s) viii | GLOSSARY SEM Standard Error of the Mean STDEV Standard deviation UN United Nations USDA United States Department of Agriculture USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics WHO World Health Organisation ix | GLOSSARY TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ........................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... vi GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... 10 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. 14 LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................... 17 LIST OF PLATES .................................................................................................... 18 PUBLICATIONS ..................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................................................. 20 PAPAVER BRACTEATUM: A POTENTIAL NEW CROP FOR TASMANIA .... 20 An Alternative Source of Morphine ................................................................... 24 Political and Cultural Considerations ................................................................. 26 History and Origin .............................................................................................. 28 Botanical Description ........................................................................................