Application of tissue culture technology to the breeding of maize depends upon the ability of some genotypes to initiate and maintain calluses to regenerate and finally obtain fully fertile plants from in vitro culture. According to Green's research (1975), we carried out studies in "in vitro culture" of maize to compare the genotypic aptitudes (at the inbred level) for callogenesis initiation, callogenesis maintenance and plantlet regeneration. Significant genotypic differences were found in these three aspects (Beckert and Pollacsek, 1979, Ann. Amélior. Plantes, 29:563-581).

The analysis of our results reveals that the ability to regenerate is connected with genotype. We can group the homozygous genotypes according to their population ancestry. Therefore, our purpose is to select genotypes with a very high level of regeneration and genotypes with the ability to regenerate following long-term callus maintenance. We are going to analyze the results of a full diallel (with 8 parents) to study the different parameters of genetical variance for such traits as callus growth, long-term viability, and plantlet regeneration. In these experiments some different media are used.

Michel Beckert, Maurice Pollacsek and Ming Quing Cao

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