Influences of aging and cloning methods on the capacity for somatic embryogenesis of a mature Hevea brasiliensis genotype.

We compared embryogenic capacities of integument explants excised from three sources of the Hevea brasiliensis (Müll. Arg.) mature genotype PB 260. The three sources were 17-year-old (BT 86) and 7-year-old (BT 96) budded trees and 7-year-old emblings (EM 96). The highest proportions of embryogenic calluses obtained from the total number of integument explants initially used were from trees of EM 96 origin, followed by BT 96 trees, with explants from BT 86 trees producing the lowest number of embryogenic calluses. Further initiation of embryogenic callus lines from the primary somatic embryos derived from the three sources was successful only for EM 96. Somatic embryo cultures from BT 86 and BT 96 sources produced only friable calluses that could not be further amplified. Overall, somatic embryo explants derived from EM 96 responded over a wider range of 3,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and kinetin concentrations than the somatic embryo explants from BT 86 and BT 96 origins. The effects of chronologic, ontogenetic and physiologic aging on explant capacity for somatic embryogenesis and on the overall efficiency of the process in H. brasiliensis are discussed.