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Role of genetic background in somatic embryogenesis in Medicago

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Abstract

Seventy-six cultivars of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L., M. falcata L. and M. varia Martyn) were tested in vitro for their capacity to produce callus and somatic embryos. A three-step media protocol was used to survey the response of the cotyledons and hypocotyl of each genotype while the epicotyl region was conserved in order to recover highly responding genotypes. The best regeneration response was observed in creepingrooted cultivars which contained a strong genetic contribution of two landrace germplasm sources, defined as M. falcata and Ladak, in their ancestry. The callus and embryogenesis responses showed a high degree of variation both between cultivars and among the plants of many of the 76 cultivars tested. A higher number of plants produced somatic embryos in the high regenerating cultivars compared to the low regenerating cultivars regardless of the media protocol or explant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetic Engineering Section, Ottawa Research Station, Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, K1A OC6, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Daniel C. W. Brown

  2. Tissue Culture Laboratory, Institute of Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Atanas Atanassov

Authors
  1. Daniel C. W. Brown
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  2. Atanas Atanassov
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Brown, D.C.W., Atanassov, A. Role of genetic background in somatic embryogenesis in Medicago . Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 4, 111–122 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00042269

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00042269

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