ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Enhancing drought tolerance in Lippia graveolens through ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-induced mutagenesis
1
Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av Universidad 1115, Ocotlan, Jalisco, Mexico
These authors had equal contribution to this work
A - Research concept and design; B - Collection and/or assembly of data; C - Data analysis and interpretation; D - Writing the article; E - Critical revision of the article; F - Final approval of article
Submission date: 2024-10-11
Acceptance date: 2025-01-08
Online publication date: 2026-06-18
Corresponding author
Araceli Rodriguez-Sahagun
Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av Universidad 1115, Ocotlan, Jalisco, Mexico
Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av Universidad 1115, Ocotlan, Jalisco, Mexico
Journal of Plant Protection Research 2026;66(2):255-262
HIGHLIGHTS
- Chemical mutagenesis offers potential for improving drought resilience in crops
- EMS mutagenesis induced new drought-tolerant variants of Lippia graveolens
- EMS-treated oregano plants showed changes in phenols and flavonoids content
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens), belonging to the Verbenaceae family, is an aromatic
and perennial herb that produces an essential oil rich in the monoterpenes thymol and carvacrol,
widely utilized in various industries. Endemic to Mexico, it predominantly thrives
in arid and semi-arid regions, typically displaying notable drought tolerance. However,
previous studies reveal that irrigation frequency significantly influences biomass production,
prompting the need for further improvement in drought tolerance in this species,
especially when considering future climate change scenarios. This study employed chemical
mutagenesis with ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) to create new genetic variants through
induced mutations. Seeds of L. graveolens underwent EMS treatment at varying concentrations
(0.1 and 0.2%) and exposure times (1, 3 and 6 hours), and then aseptically germinated
on MS medium. Nodal segments from resulting seedlings were used as explants for
multiple shoot proliferation using 50 g · l-1 of polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a selective agent
for drought tolerance, where non-mutagenized plants displayed severely inhibited development
and necrosis. Twenty-five putative mutants tolerant to osmotic stress were recovered,
and some of them showed evident morphological alterations and significant changes in the
content of phenols and flavonoids, compounds associated with responses to stress. These
results highlight the effectiveness of chemical mutagenesis as a strategy for genetically enhancing
drought tolerance in Mexican oregano.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
J.M.H.-Z gratefully acknowledge the National Council
for Humanities, Science and Technology (CONAHCYT)
for providing a fellowship to pursue graduate
studies.
RESPONSIBLE EDITOR
Piotr Iwaniuk
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors have declared that no conflict of interests exist.
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