DIPLOID, TETRAPLOID, AND OCTOPLOID PLANTS FROM ANTHER CULTURE OF TETRAPLOID ORCHARD GRASS, DACTYLIS-GLOMERATA L

This report describes a study of androgenesis in Dactylis glomerata, w here the main aim was to find anther culture-responsive clones. Two ty pes of media and two sugars were compared for their effectiveness in a nther culture induction and subsequent plantlet production. Embryo for mation from the cultured anthers was obtained from 28 of the 108 clone d genotypes using two different substrates, R2M and FW. Both induction media supported the formation of embryos from the cultured anthers, b ut around 4.5 times more embryos (0.81 embryos per 100 anthers) were o btained with R2M compared with FW, and R2M also gave 5.5 times more gr een plants (0.054 green plants per 100 anthers) than the FW substrate. In the investigation of a carbohydrate source, responsive clones from the genotype study were tested using maltose as a substitute for sucr ose in R2M. Using maltose instead of sucrose increased embryo formatio n so that 133 embryos per 100 anthers were obtained compared with 7.1 embryos per 100 anthers obtained with sucrose. The total number of gre en plants obtained was also improved with maltose compared with sucros e, resulting in 66.3 and 1.9 green plants per 100 cultured anthers, re spectively.