FERTILE PLANT-REGENERATION FROM CELL-SUSPENSION AND PROTOPLAST CULTURES OF BARLEY (HORDEUM-VULGARE CV SCHOONER)

Fertile plants were regenerated from both cell suspension and protopla st-derived cultures of the two-row barley, Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Scho oner. Embryogenic calluses, derived from immature embryos, were used t o establish suspension cultures. More than 100 plants, with variable s eed set, have been regenerated from six embryogenic cell suspension cu ltures. Protoplasts isolated from three suspension cultures divided an d when the resultant embryogenic proto-calluses were transferred to re generation medium both green and albino shoots were produced. The gree n shoots were transferred to growth regulator-free medium and plantlet s that developed strong root systems were potted in soil and grown to maturity in the glasshouse. Root tip analysis of plants regenerated fr om cell suspension cultures revealed the expected 2N = 14 complement o f chromosomes. However, chromosomal analysis of protoplast-derived pla nts showed numerical variation among a proportion of the regenerants.