Abstract
Pollen plants from anther culture in rice breeding allows selection of fine strains in early generations. Exploitation of anther culture technique in research is limited due to very low regeneration frequency of indica cultivars and the transfer of anther culture traits from japonica to indica varieties is important in improving these rice varieties. In this study the optimization of media requirements and culture conditions for high frequency callus induction and plant regeneration of several indica × japonica F1 hybrids were evaluated using improved anther culture media. Five indica rice varieties (BG 90-2, BG 379-2, BG 94-1, Dahanala and Suduru samba) and two japonica varieties (Hu Lo Tao and Chuan 4) were selected and F1 hybrids were taken with all possible crosses between them. Panicles were cold pre treated at 5°C for 7 days and anthers were cultured in agar solidified modified N6, B5 and Millers media. Calli were transferred to MS medium for plant regeneration. Best callus induction frequencies (0.8 - 29.4%) were obtained in N6 medium containing 5% (w/v) sucrose, than B5 (0.5 - 19.2%) and Millers (0.2 - 19.8%) media. The F1 hybrids were more responsive to anther culture than their parents. Highest callus induction frequency of 29.4% could observe in N6 medium for F1 hybrid Hu Lo Tao × BG 90-2. The green plant regeneration frequency of calli induced on N6 medium was higher than the other two media and the highest frequency of 41.0% was occurred in F1 hybrids of Hu Lo Tao × BG 90-2. Green plants were transferred to pots with 50 - 75% survival rate. Out of 99 plants survived, 28 plants had more than 5% spikelet fertility. Modified N6 medium had positive effect on anther culture performance and the F1 hybrid Hu Low Tao × Bg 90-2 had the best performance. Key words: anther culture; indica; japonica; modified media; plant regeneration; rice DOI: 10.4038/tare.v10i0.1866 Tropical Agricultural Research & Extension Vol.10 2007 17-22
Highlights
Anther culture as a method of creating haploid strains has become greatly useful in genetic studies and practical breeding (Yi, 1991)
Very low regeneration frequency of anthers of rice in general, and indica cultivars in particular (Balachandran et al, 1999)
According to Reddy et al (1985), the application of N6 medium to indica rice was found to be limited it is quite suitable for japonica rice
Summary
Anther culture as a method of creating haploid strains has become greatly useful in genetic studies and practical breeding (Yi, 1991). Using pollen parents from anther culture in rice breeding can reduce breeding time, increase selection efficiency and save space and labour in the field by allowing selection of fine strains in early generations (Shih-Wei and Zhi-Hong, 1991). This system provides an unparalleled opportunity to shorten the breeding cycle and fix agronomic traits in the homozygous state, such as recessive genes. In this study the objective was to evaluate the response of anthers of selected indica (high yielding varieties and traditional varieties), japonica varieties and their inter sub specific F1 hybrids for high frequency callus induction and plant regeneration in different culture media with certain modifications
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