Establishment, characterization and plant regeneration from highly chlorophyllous embryogenic cell cultures of blue grama grass, Bouteloua gracilis (HBK) Lag. ex Steud.

A finely dispersed, homogeneous and highly chlorophyllous cell suspension ( TIANSJ98 cell line) was obtained from shoot apices of Bouteloua gracilis (H .B.K.) Lag. ex Steud. cultured on MPC medium containing MS salts supplement ed with 2,4-D (1 mg/l), BAP (2 mg/l) and adenine (40 mg/l). When the TIANSJ 98 cell line was grown in this medium with shaking at 180 rpm it had doubli ng times of 7.2 and 3.7 days in terms of fresh and dry weight, respectively . Total chlorophyll content in this cell culture ranged from 121.6 to 18.3 mug/g FW at 12 and 21 days following culture initiation. Plants regenerated from the TIANSJ98 cell line, via somatic embryogenesis, were grown to matu rity and produced seeds. Although different cell culture systems have been described for cereals and grasses, to the best of our knowledge this is the first report of a highly chlorophyllous and regenerable cell suspension in Poaceae.