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ARS Home » Midwest Area » East Lansing, Michigan » Sugarbeet and Bean Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #74988
Title: SUGARBEET SOMATIC EMBRYOS FROM CALLUS:PHYSIOLOGICAL AND GENOTYPIC INFLUENCES

Author
item Saunders, Joseph
item TSAI, C - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: In Vitro Cellular And Developmental Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Sugarbeet seed could be produced more economically, and beneficial genes from other crops added more efficiently into sugarbeet, if a laboratory method for very rapid multiplication of seeds could be devised. In this research, improved test tube production of artificial embryos, the tiny preformed plant normally contained in seeds, was obtained both by optimizing plant hormone levels and by using an offspring of the test plant. This is a further step in the development of mass production of laboratory seeds. These results are important to sugarbeet farmers and processors, as well as to seed producers, because of the reduced costs to produce sugar in each part of the chain in the sugarbeet industry.

Technical Abstract: To increase somatic embryo production potential, two sugarbeet genotypes, REL-1 and LTR-41, were used to test combinations of abscisic acid with the growth regulators 6-benzyladenine, 1-naphthalene acetic acid, or 2,4-dichloroacetic acid, different sole nitrogen sources, or different sucrose concentrations. Clone LTR-41 produced embryos up to thirty-five fold more frequently than clone REL-1. At some concentrations, 1-naphthaleneacetic acid as well as urea and glutamine stimulated greater embryo production over the control, but only for REL-1, where there was greater room for improvement. Three and five percent sucrose were superior to one, seven and nine percent. Higher 6- benzyladenine concentration was associated with lower embryo numbers but greater shoot regeneration for both clones. LTR-41 was significantly better to REL-1 in shoot regeneration. As a common factor in all experiments, abscisic acid at some concentrations consistently improved embryo production, and was observed to stimulate shoot production when this was measured. The range of genotypic effects on embryo production was more than thirty-five fold, whereas the range of physiological effects was no greater than ten-fold. Genotype LTR-41 is being released as REL-2 to avail sugarbeet researchers of its superior embryogenic and shoot regeneration abilities for application in biotechnology.