Cell Suspension and Callus Culture from Somatic Tissue of Maize

Abstract Cell suspension and callus cultures from somatic tissue of inbred lines of maize (Zea mays L.) were cultured on media that were defined via modification of a Linsmaier and Skoog preparation. Germlings incubated on the primary medium originally employed required long‐term incubation for callus induction. Modification of the primary medium with high levels of iron and (ethylene dinitrillo)tetraacetic acid (EDTA), B vitamin amendments and vitamin E, shortened incubation by 75% and nearly doubled the percentage of germlings which produced callus. Callus did not remain viable in subcultures to the secondary medium originally employed, whereas a preparation, developed via modification of the original secondary medium, enabled perpetuation of callus through repeated subculture. Modification with high levels of iron and EDTA, plug B vitamins and vitamin E, with decreased concentrations of five inorganic salts, suppressed aberrant organogenesis and stabilized culture growth as viable callus. Similar modification, with the exception that EDTA was omitted, was employed for the development of a liquid medium. Tonicity of the medium was adjusted with a lowered level of sucrose, with the liquid further modified by addition of acetate. Upon development of this liquid, maize became the sixth monocot species for which somatic cells remain viable through repeated subculture in liquid suspensions.