Direct embryogenesis and green plant regeneration from isolated microspores of hexaploid triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack) cv. Bogo.

The use of doubled haploids improves the efficiency of cultivar development in many crops and can be helpful in genetic and molecular studies. The major problem with this approach is the low efficiency of green plant regeneration. We describe here an efficient method for inducing embryos and regenerating green plants directly from isolated microspores of hexaploid triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack) cv. Bogo. The absence of growth regulators in the induction medium was the most effective condition for the formation of embryo-like structures. The highest induction rates were observed at microspore densities of 1.5x10(5) microspores and 2x10(5) microspores per milliliter. Such cultures produced an average of 54.9 green plants per single donor spike. The frequency of albino plants ranged from 9.3% to 22.9%. Among the green progeny tested, 30.8% were spontaneously doubled haploids.