EFFICIENT REGENERATION OF FERTILE PLANTS FROM PROTOPLASTS ISOLATED FROM MICROSPORE CULTURES OF BARLEY (HORDEUM-VULGARE L)

Cultures of isolated microspores of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Kym ppi, an elite cultivar of malting barley) were used for isolation of p rotoplasts. The protoplasts were cultured embedded in agarose. The pla ting efficiency varied from 0.002% to 0.015%. Several hundred green pl ants were regenerated from the cultures. Plantlets regenerated from pr otoplasts were potted in soil within 4-5 months of collecting the spik es for microspore culture and the first plants are now setting seed.