Optimal concentration of sucrose for head cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. convar. capitata (L.) Alef.) anther culture

Abstract

Formation numbers of embryos and plants from anther culture were investigated for 6 genotypes of head cabbage (white cabbage, savoy cabbage, pointed-headed cabbage) with donor plants raised under cold (15°C/13°C) and warm (22°C/18°C) greenhouse conditions using media with 7%, 10%, 13%, 16%, 19%, and 22% sucrose. The average yields of embryos and plants obtained from donor plants in the two temperature regimes, were not significantly different. The main effect of the sucrose concentration could be described as a parabola from which the average optimal concentration of sucrose for pollen embryo formation for the six genotypes was calculated to 14.2 ± 0.1% sucrose and for plants to 14.0 ± 0.1% sucrose. The average optimal sucrose concentration resulted in a 1.7 times increase in formation of embryos and 1.5 times increase in plant formation compared with the 10% sucrose medium generally used. Considerable interactions of genotype x sucrose observed could be explained by different sucrose optima for each of the three forms of head cabbage.