New aspects of soybean somatic embryogenesis

Somatic embryo formation from immature cotyledons was improved in the following ways: by cutting into sections, supplementing culture media with spermine and using solid/liquid/solid type of culture. Cut cotyledons of the eight genotypes examined expressed a higher ability for somatic embryogenesis than whole cotyledons. Of the three polyamines tested, spermine considerably stimulated and putrescine slightly inhibited induction of somatic embryos. The ability of embryoid formation on medium with spermidine depended on the genotype. The solid/liquid/solid type of culture was better than the continuous solid culture. The best nitrogen ion content for the subculture of somatic embryos was 10 mM NH₄NO₃ and 30 mM KNO₃. The possibility of using these modifications in Agrobacterium transformation is discussed.     

Somatic hybridization as a tool for tomato breeding

Protoplast fusion can be used to produce somatic hybrids of species that cannot be obtained by sexual hybridization. The possibility to introgress genes from Solanum species into the cultivated tomato species Lycopersicon esculentum, and to obtain novel cytoplasm-nucleus combinations (cybrids) was considered as an important strategy to extend the genetic variation available for tomato breeding. Somatic hybrids between L. esculentum and other Lycopersicon species, as well as between L. esculentum and Solanum or Nicotiana species, have been produced. Specific mutants, genotypes with antibiotic resistances, and metabolic inhibition by iodoacetate or iodoacetamide and irradiation were used for the selection of hybrids. In addition, the improvement of protoplast culture techniques and the use of the favourable tissue culture traits derived from species such as L. peruvianum, which have been introduced into tomato by classical breeding, allowed the efficient recovery of somatic hybrids. However, the occurrence of somatic incongruity in fusion combinations of L. esculentum and Solanum and even more in L. esculentum and Nicotiana, did not allow the production of true cybrids and/or fertile hybrids, indicating the importance of both cytoplasm-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions in somatic incongruity. Another problem with fusions between distantly related species is the strongly reduced fertility of the hybrids and the very limited homoeologous recombination between chromosomes of the parental species. Partial genome transfer from donor to recipient through microprotoplast (+) protoplast fusion, and the production of monosomic or disomic chromosome addition lines, light overcome some of these problems. In symmetric somatic hybrids between L. esculentum and S. tuberosum the occurrence of limited somatic and meiotic recombination was demonstrated. Fertile progeny plants could be obtained, though at a low frequency, when embryo rescue was performed on a large scale after backcrossing hexaploid somatic tomato (+) potato hybrids with a tetraploid potato genotype. The potential value of genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) and RFLPs for the analysis of the genome/chromosome composition of the hybrids has been demonstrated for intergeneric somatic hybrids between Lycopersicon and Solanum.Abbreviations cpDNA chloroplast DNA - mtDNA mitochondrial DNA     

Efficient shoot regeneration and somatic embryogenesis from immature cotyledons of Brassica napus L.

Immature cotyledons of Brassica napus cv.‘Topas’ were used to investigate the effects of various naphthaleneacetic acid and benzylaminopurine concentrations on morphogenesis in vitro. A high efficiency of adventitious shoot regeneration and somatic embryogenesis was achieved on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with the above growth regulators. Two types of somatic embryogenesis were obtained, the first directly and the second via a callus stage.     

Field performance of embryogenic cell suspension-derived banana plants (Musa AAA, cv. Grande naine)

Growth and yield characteristics of two different clones of banana plants (Musa AAA cv. Grande naine) originating from four months old embryogenic cell suspensions were studied. These characteristics were compared with those plants produced by the conventional in vitro budding multiplication method. Two types of variants were observed during the acclimatization phase among 500 embryogenic cell suspension derived plants. The first type related to banana plants with `variegated or deformed leaves' were also observed in in vitro budding derived plants. The second type concerned `fasciated-leafed' plants. During the field growth, these two variant types produced plants morphologically similar to the other plants. Thus, none of the cell suspension derived plants exhibited off-type traits in the field. A Fisher block model was used to compare the field performances of the two clones produced through the two in vitro propagation techniques. The analysis of variance showed that there were no significant differences between the plants produced by either micropropagation techniques for the plant height and circumference, the length of the reference leaf, the number of nodal clusters of the inflorescence and of fruits, the bunch weight, the period of time between planting and flowering, and between planting and harvesting. This study showed that banana plants with an agronomical behaviour similar to those produced by the conventional in vitro budding method could be regenerated from embryogenic cell suspension. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A comparison of the somaclonal variation level of Rosa hybrida L. cv Meirutral plants regenerated from callus or direct induction from different vegetative and embryonic tissues

Summary Flowering plants of Rosa hybrida L. cv Meirutral have been obtained either from direct regeneration of adventitious shoots on leaf and root fragments, or through organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis on calli derived from anther, ovule, petal, sepal, receptacle, leaf, stem internode, root and zygotic embryo tissues. The calli derived from floral parts exhibited rhizogenesis. In this case direct induction of adventitious shoots from selected roots had to be performed in order to generate plants. A histological study of the morphogenetic calli was carried out. The plants regenerated directly and those regenerated from calli of leaf, stem internode, root and zygotic embryo tissues, together with reference plants propagated by cuttings, were compared on a phenotypic basis by taking into account petal number, form and colour, and plant growth habit. From these observations, it can be concluded that directly regenerated plants are as stable as reference plants while plants regenerated from callus are unstable, especially those derived from zygotic embryo tissues.Abbreviations BAP 6-benzylaminopurine - 2,4-D 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - GA3 gibberellic acid - IAA 3-indole-acetic acid - MS Murashige and Skoog - NAA 1-naphthalene acetic acid     

Effect of mannitol pretreatment to improve green plant regeneration on isolated microspore culture in Triticum turgidum ssp. durum cv. 'Jennah Khetifa'

The use of doubled haploids improves the efficiency of cultivar development in many crops and can be helpful in genetic and molecular studies. The major problem with this approach is the low efficiency of green plant regeneration. We describe here an efficient method for inducing embryos and regenerating green plants directly from isolated microspores of durum wheat cv. ‘Jennah Khetifa’. Tillers from donor plants were pretreated in 0.3 m mannitol and were stored at 4°C at various times: 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 days. Our results showed clearly that the novel pretreatment combined mannitol 0.3 m and cold for 7 days had a strong effect on the number of embryos produced and regenerated green plants. Under this condition 13 475 mature embryos were produced from 2 693 500 microspores. Moreover, 85 green plants were obtained. High green plants regeneration frequency was recorded. As an average 11.55 green plants were produced per 100 000 microspores (about the equivalent of six plants per spike). Therefore, this study showed clearly that our results are the best ones published until now in durum wheat.     

利用SSH技术鉴定香蕉体细胞胚发生相关基因

本研究以野生蕉胚性悬浮系为材料,将胚性细胞增殖培养基上的香焦胚性悬浮系作为对照,体胚诱导培养基上的培养材料为处理,利用抑制性消减杂交(suppression subtractive hybridization,SSH)技术,构建野生蕉胚性悬浮系激素诱导的胚胎发育差异表达cDNA文库,随机挑选阳性克隆并进行生物信息学分析...     

小孢子培养获得松花型花椰菜DH再生植株

对5个松花型花椰菜(Brassica oleraceavar.botrytisL.)杂种一代的小孢子培养研究表明,小孢子胎胚发生主要依赖于基因型,庆农65天的每花蕾胚状体产量最高,平均达15.5个。松花菜的胚状体萌发率一般在30%左右,并有效地获得了大量的DH再生植株。冷激预处理能显著地影响花椰菜小孢子的胚胎发生,但供体材料间存在不同的结果。结球期和开花结角期再生植株的生育期与育性出现较大分离,可育且能正常结角的比例约占全部小孢子再生植株的50%以上,因而不再需要加倍处理。     

四倍体野生棉毛棉体细胞胚胎发生与植株再生研究

通过对培养基激素配比,以及不同浓度的PEG、CuSO4和AgNO3等处理,对棉属四倍体野生棉种毛棉(G.tomentosum Nutt.Watt)进行了体细胞培养,获得了大量体细胞胚状体并实现植株再生。与四倍体陆地棉(G.hirsutum,cv.Coker 201)相比,毛棉体细胞培养难度较大,且体细胞胚畸形严重,萌发困难,但通过培养条件的调控可以得到大量胚状体和少量再生植株。试验结果表明,激素组合0.1 mg.L-1 KT+0.1 mg.L-1 2,4-D诱导的愈伤组织较松脆,分化潜力高;PEG处理不利于毛棉的胚性和非胚性愈伤的诱导,而不同浓度的CuSO4和AgNO3处理对于体细胞胚状体诱导和萌发以及植株再生效果有明显差异。其中3.5 mg.L-1 CuSO4+0.5 mg.L-1IBA+0.2 mg.L-1 KT和3 mg.L-1 AgNO3+0.5 mg.L-1 IBA+0.2 mg.L-1 KT组合利于胚性愈伤的增殖和体细胞胚的萌发。