Effects of osmolality, cytokinin, and organic acids on pollen callus formation in Triticale anthers

Abstract

Triticale anthers with pollen at middle to late uninucleated stages were cultured individually in Falcon micro test II tissue culture plates. The results indicate that when the anthers were cultured in the same growing conditions the differences in pollen callus formation among anthers from the first and second florets in the same spikelet were not statistically significant, whereas the differences in callus formation among anthers from different spikes (or plants) were statistically significant. These results suggest that comparisons of treatment effects should be made between samples consisting of anthers from the same spikelet only. Benzyl adenine (BA) and higher osmolality enhanced pollen callus induction, while a higher concentration of organic acids suppressed it. Under optimal conditions 31% of anthers formed callus, while the number of pollen calli per 100 seeded anthers was as high as 130. The pollen calli were able to develop into plants; however, the frequency was relatively low.