High throughput anther culture response in an upland rice cross ‘Khandagiri x Dular’

Abstract

Aim: The experiment was conducted to maximize anther culture response in an upland indica rice cross amenable for drought tolerance breeding. Methodology: The cold pre-treated anthers of a cross Khandagiri (drought sensitive) x Dular (drought tolerant) were cultured on N6, SK3, MS and CIM media at varying concentration of hormones (2,4-D, Kn and NAA) to assess callusing response. Embryogenic calli were placed on regeneration medium (RM) with varying concentration of Kn, BAP and NAA for plant regeneration. The plantlets were acclimatized in half-strength MS basal liquid medium for one week before transferring to pot mixture (peat moss: perlite 2:1, v/v) for plant establishment in glasshouse under partial shade. Finally, the plantlets were checked for doubled haploid status by cytological study of root tips. Results: Anther culture response was found to be media and genotype-specific. F1-progenies responded better than either of the parents. A modified MS callus induction medium (CIM) with 1.5mg/l 2,4-D + 0.5mg/l Kn resulted impressively higher callusing response (30.2%) with nodular calli than SK3>MS>N6. High frequency (12.8%) of albino-free green plant regeneration with well developed rooting was achieved in RM medium (a modified MS) containing 2mg/l BAP and 0.5mg/l NAA. A total 129 doubled haploid (DH) plants (each with 12 pairs of chromosomes) were recovered which maintained normal growth, set seeds and resulted in true breeding DH lines. Interpretation: The high throughput regeneration system is amenable for doubled haploid production from indica crosses. Besides, the present doubled haploid stock can serve as an ideal mapping population and as such targeted for marker aided selection for early development of drought tolerant rice varieties.