Immature embryo culture of waxy maize
--Kravchenko, OA
The behaviour of immature embryos in culture conditions in vitro was studied with respect to the following factors: genotype, age of embryos and 2,4-D concentration in nutrient medium. For callus tissue culture initiation the method of immature embryo cultivation (Green and Phillips, Crop Sci. 15:417-421, 1975) was used. The hybrid Pioneer 3978 and its parental forms, and the inbred lines 346 and 502 as well as their waxy counterparts, were used as initial material. Immature embryos at an age of 12, 13, 15 and 17 days were employed to produce callus. They were planted on the nutrient medium MS (Murashige and Skoog, Physiol. Plant. 15:473-497, 1962) supplemented with various concentrations of 2,4-D (0.5 mg/l, 1 mg/l, 2 mg/l). The data were processed by three factor analysis of variance.
The principal conclusions from the results obtained are as follows: (1) an influence of the waxy gene on callus formation, somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration has been observed (Table 1). A similar conclusion was made by other scientists (Gulko, Kravchenko A., Palii, Bul. Acad. Stiin. Republ. Mold. 3:25-31, 1995). (2) The embryos at an age of 12 and 13 days proved to be the best explants for callus, somatic embryos and plantlet induction. (3) The processes of callusogenesis, embryogenesis and plant regeneration were influenced mostly by age of embryos and genotype. It should be noted that the composition of culture medium was the factor that affected these processes least. For reliable waxy maize regenerant production the best combinations of factors studied were also determined.
Table 1. The influence of genotype on callus formation, somatic embryogenesis
and plant regeneration.
| Genotype | Callusogenesis, % | Somatic embryogenesis, % | Plant regeneration, % |
| 346wx | 86.42*** | 65.10*** | 14.23* |
| 346 | 97.37*** | 84.59*** | 57.30* |
| 502wx | 52.36*** | 47.80*** | 36.15* |
| 502 | 77.33*** | 53.27*** | 35.23* |
| Pioneer 3978 | 53.28*** | 64.58*** | 45.14* |
| Pioneer 3978 wx | 81.19*** | 85.14*** | 25.31* |
*p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001
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