Morphological markers for microspore developmental stage in maize

Abstract

The use of maize in anther culture has been limited because only few genotypes presented a high androgenetic potential. Obtaining the proper stage of microspore development at culture initiation is one of the most crucial factors for success in the androgenesis. For Brazilian maize genotypes there are no studies reporting a correlation between cytological features and morphological parameters. In this study, morphological parameters were recorded and associated with cytological specific stages of the the microsporogenesis in two Brazilian maize genotypes that were sowed in different places (field and growing chamber). For both genotypes, the plants of the growing chamber presented a delay in development. Spikelets length and anther length/spikelet length ratio are not good parameters since they can be greatly influenced by the environment. The anther length was the more reliable parameter to correlate with a specific developmental stage. Nevertheless, variations between genotypes and environment were detected.