Efficient production of doubled haploid wheat plants by in vitro treatment of microspores with trifluralin or APM

Isolated microspore cultures from two doubled haploid (DH) lines of wheat, Triticum aestivum L., were used to develop an in vitro chromosome-doubling protocol. During the initial 24 h or 48 h of culture the microspores were treated with either of the two antimicrotubule herbicides trifluralin or amiprophos-methyl (APM) in concentrations ranging from 0.1 μM to 10μM. Untreated control cultures yielded 209 embryos per 100000 microspores, which is the equivalent of one spike. Among the regenerated plantlets 67% were green, and 15% of the flowering plants were spontaneously chromosome doubled. Treatments with both the herbicides had a significant effect on chromosome doubling, measured as the percentage of fertile regenerants. With the best combination of treatment duration (48 h) and herbicide concentration (10/μM) the percentage of fertile plants among regenerants could be increased up to 74% with APM and up to 65% with trifluralin. The largest numbers of DH plants per spike could be obtained with herbicide concentrations at 1–3 μM. Treatments with either herbicide at these concentrations resulted in an estimated average between the two genotypes of 27 DH plants per 100 000 microspores. These results demonstrate the high potential of APM and trifluralin as chromosome-doubling agents in isolated microspore cultures. The in vitro treatment integrated into tissue culture procedures will constitute an efficient method for chromosome doubling in future wheat breeding