PRODUCTION OF INTER-SPECIFIC HYBRIDS BETWEEN LIMONIUM-PEREZII (STAPF)HUBB. AND LIMONIUM-SINUATUM (L.) MILL

Interspecific hybrids between Limonium perezii and L. sinuatum were ob tained using L. perezii as the female parent. The embryos which formed were rescued by culturing 12- to 16-day-old embryos within their ovul es. The ovules containing the embryos were cultured on modified B5 med ium and the embryos were later excised and re-plated onto fresh medium . The embryos grew for varying lengths of time eventually reaching len gths of up to 10 mm, before ceasing growth. At this point they died. T ransfer to modified MS medium containing 3 mg l(-1) TDZ for 24 hours i nduced callus growth in the embryo derived tissues from which shoots d eveloped. These shoots were proliferated on modified MS medium contain ing IBA, BAP and GA(3). Shoots transferred to modified MS medium with added IBA for 6 days initiated roots which continued development after transfer of the explants to modified growth-regulator-free MS medium. After a further 28 days the plantlets were transferred to soil. The h ybrid nature of one of the embryo-derived plants was determined by flo w cytometry and by examination of morphological features. The mean DNA contents of 2C nuclei from L. perezii, the hybrid and L. sinuatum wer e 8.69 pg, 7.59 pg and 6.42 pg, respectively. Mitotic and meiotic chro mosome counts from L. perezii and L. sinuatum and their hybrid reveale d that they had chromosome numbers of 14, 16 and 15, respectively. Mor phological analyses of leaves and flowers showed that the hybrid displ ayed a number of features intermediate between both parents.