Plant regeneration from leaf and seed-derived calli and suspension cultures of the African perennial wild rice, Oryza longistaminata.

Plant regeneration from 2-month-old callus cultures derived from immature leaves of 7-day-old aseptic seedlings and mature embryos of the African wild rice Oryza longistaminata was achieved at 20% and 100% frequency, respectively. The morphogenic potential of the embryo-derived calluses dropped from 100% at the third subculture to 12.5 % at the 12th subculture. Five-month-old morphogenic calluses were used to establish a fast-growing suspension culture which, when plated onto semisolid medium, still retained its ability to regenerate plantlets 9 months after initiation. Histological analyses demonstrated that late plant regeneration from established callus and suspension cultures occured through organogenesis, although some embryogenesis events may have taken place during initiation of these cultures.