Full Length Research Paper

Effect of age on somatic embryogenesis from immature zygotic embryos of 5 Turkish triticale genotypes

Mehmet Atak¹, Muharrem Kaya², Khalid Mahmood Khawar³*, Sevil Saglam³, Sebahattin Özcan³ and Cemalettin Yasar Ciftci³

¹Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Mustafa Kemal University, 31034 Hatay, Turkey.

²Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey.

³Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ankara, 06110 Dışkapı- Ankara, Turkey.

*Corresponding author: E-mail: kmkhawar@gmail.com. Tel: + 90 312 5961539. Fax: +90 312 –3182666.

Abbreviations: MS medium, Murashige and Skoog medium; 2,4-D, 2, 4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid.   

Accepted 25 March, 2008

Triticale is an important cereal crop grown throughout the world. The study reports somatic embryogenesis from immature zygotic embryos of 5 Turkish triticale genotypes. The explants were initially cultured on MS medium supplemented with 2 mg dm^-3  2,4-D, 500 mg dm^-3 glutamine, 100 mg dm^-3 casein hydrolysate, 2% sucrose and 7% agar for two weeks in the dark. The temperature was maintained at 24±2ºC. Thereafter, the developing embryogenic calli were transferred to MS medium without 2,4-D to achieve embryogenesis under light intensity of 30 000 lux in 16 h light 8 h dark photoperiod at 24±2ºC for 2 weeks. The developing somatic embryos were then transferred to MS medium to mature them and obtain plantlets. The highest number of 9.63 somatic embryos per explant were recorded for genotype LAD388 from 14 - 16 days old explants. The experiment clearly established that 14 - 16 days old explants were superior compared to 17 - 19 days old explants in terms of number of somatic embryos per explant. The matured plantlets were acclimatised in the greenhouse on organic matter rich soil mix contained in pots.

Key words: Triticale, immature zygotic embryos, somatic embryogenesis, age.