A comparative study of environmental and developmental factors which influence embryo induction and growth in cultured anthers of Nicotiana Tabacum

Dunwell, J. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2147-665X (1976) A comparative study of environmental and developmental factors which influence embryo induction and growth in cultured anthers of Nicotiana Tabacum. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 16 (2). pp. 109-118. ISSN 0098-8472 doi: 10.1016/0098-8472(76)90002-2

Abstract/Summary

The influence of the growth environment of the parent plant, the age of the parent plant, and the stage of pollen development on embryo induction and growth in cultured anthers of N. tabacum has been investigated. The medium used and the incubation conditions were identical for all anthers cultured, so that differences in response could be attributed to the state of the anther (wall plus pollen) at the moment of culture. By comparing the responses of anthers taken from six groups of plants grown in different environments, it was found that differences in photoperiod or light intensity produced a fivefold variation in the number of plantlets produced per anther. Plant age was of secondary importance, although some plants showed up to a sevenfold decline in the number of plantlets produced from the 1st to the 100th bud. Pollen stage, the least important of the factors investigated, revealed an optimum in response at the pollen grain mitosis, with a much lower response from older pollen. The possible physiological basis of these results, together with the connection between floral induction and embryo growth, are discussed.