INDUCTION OF POLLEN PLANTS FROM ANTHERS OF TRITICUM AESTIVUM L. CULTURED IN VITRO

Anthers of Triticum aestivum L. were cultured in vitro on the MS medium supplemented with auxins, with or without kinetin. Then the pollen grains were successfully, induced to develop into intact plants through a stage of callus formation. Experiments indicated that pollen grains at the mid-uninucleate stage were most favourable for induction to form calli, and that addition of lactalbumin hydrolysate and appropriate increase of the sucrose coneentration had some promoting effects on pollen callus formation. The pollen callus with relatively great differentiating capacity was generally compact in texture and possessed the histological characteristics of the primary meristem. It was noted that the results obtained with different materials (different varieties or hybrids of different crosses) varied considerably. The progeny of the plant induced from F 1, hybrid pollen showed no segregation of characters, suggesting that application of the anther culture method to plant breeding is very promising.