Production of Haploid Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) by Culturing Unpollinated Ovules

The culture of unpollinated ovules is shown to be a suitable system for the production of haploid sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.). The yield of haploids depended upon the genotype and varied between 0 and 13 % with a mean of 1.0 %. Haploid plants could be produced from approximately 50 % of all genotypes examined. The majority of the haploids isolated (about 90%) maintained the haploid genome level during the in vitro culture and propagation; 10% of the haploid clones showed a spontaneous doubling to the diploid genome level.