This experimental study aimed to elucidate the optimal colchicine concentration for inducing polyploidy and to examine the morphological effects on Nigella sativa L. (family Ranunculaceae) plants recognized as ‘Kalonji’ in India. Here, seeds were exposed with different concentration of colchicine ranging from 0.025 to 0.4% with varying time duration (24–48 h). The agro-morphological attributes and chromosome counts of the putative polyploids were compared with control diploid plants, revealing significant differences. The ploidy level determined by chromosome counts revealed that 0.05–0.1% concentration of colchicine induced tetraploids within both plant genotypes for 24 h and 48 h. However, results based on agro-morphological trait correlation analysis revealed more significant association among yield traits at 0.1% concentration and the principal component analysis revealed that the maximum possible ameliorative effect of the colchicine dose was the lowest concentration (0.025% for a 48-hour exposure time) for the AN1 genotype; likewise, a 0.05% concentration established a more positive association in terms of growth and yield attributes for the AN20 genotype. This study demonstrated that low dosages (0.025% and 0.1%) strongly impact plant growth and yield, whereas higher dosages obliterate these positive effects and add destructive characteristics within plants which ultimately reduces yield.

本实验研究旨在阐明诱导多倍体的最佳秋水仙碱浓度，并检查对印度公认的“Kalonji”的 Nigella sativa L.（毛茛科）植物的形态学影响。在这里，种子用 0.025 至 0.4% 的不同浓度秋水仙碱暴露，持续时间不同（24-48 小时）。将推定多倍体的农业形态学属性和染色体计数与对照二倍体植物进行比较，揭示了显着差异。通过染色体计数测定的倍性水平显示，0.05-0.1% 浓度的秋水仙碱在 24 小时和 48 小时内诱导两种植物基因型内的四倍体。然而，基于农业形态学性状相关性分析的结果表明，在 0.1% 浓度下，产量性状之间的相关性更显着，主成分分析显示秋水仙碱剂量的最大可能改善效果是 AN1 基因型的最低浓度（0.025% 暴露时间为 48 小时）;同样，0.05% 浓度在 AN20 基因型的生长和产量属性方面建立了更正的关联。这项研究表明，低剂量（0.025% 和 0.1%）会强烈影响植物的生长和产量，而较高的剂量会消除这些积极影响并在植物内增加破坏性，最终降低产量。