High frequency plant regeneration from anther-derived cell suspension cultures via somatic embryogenesis in Catharanthus roseus.

A system for high frequency plant regeneration from cell suspension cultures in Catharanthus roseus is described. Calli were obtained from anthers cultured on Murashige and Skoog's medium supplemented with 1 mgl(-1) α-naphthaleneacetic acid and 0.1 mgl(-1) kinetin. After the second subculture on solid medium, embryogenic callus was identified and transferred to liquid medium to initiate suspension cultures. Cells dispersed finely in the medium were subcultured at 14-day intervals. Upon plating onto the basal medium, yellowish compact colonies proliferated from the cells and more than 80% of them gave rise to somatic embryos. Subsequently, plantlets developed from the embryos. Both the plantlets and the source plants showed the normal somatic chromosome number of 2n=2x=16.