GERMINATION OF ENCAPSULATED EMBRYOS OF INTERIOR SPRUCE (PICEA-GLAUCA-ENGELMANNII COMPLEX) AND BLACK SPRUCE (PICEA-MARIANA MILL)

interior spruce (Picea glauca engelmannii complex) and black spruce (P icea mariana Mill.) cotyledonary somatic embryos were encapsulated in sodium alginate. Somatic embryo viability was retained, but germinatio n occurred at a reduced frequency compared with the equivalent zygotic embryos. The addition of 0.5% (w/v) activated charcoal to the alginat e capsule significantly enhanced root development and germination for somatic embryos but not for zygotic embryos. The possibility of develo ping an artifical endosperm was also investigated, by addition of Litv ay (Litvay et al. 1981) nutrients with or without 90 mM sucrose to the alginate-charcoal capsule. This treatment significantly enhanced root development for all embryo categories with the exception of black spr uce somatic embryos. Encapsulated and non-encapsulated somatic embryos survived one month cold storage at 4-degrees-C without reduction in g ermination frequency.