Production of doubled haploid plants from anther cultures of borage (Borago officinalis L.) by the application of chemical and physical stress

Abstract

Anther culture can be used as a powerful tool to produce doubled haploid (DH) lines in medicinal plants, thus accelerating breeding programs. In the particular case of borage (Borago officinalis L.), a method to produce DH plants has not been yet published. In this work we evaluated the effect of different culture media and of different chemical (colchicine and n-butanol) and physical stresses (centrifugation and electroporation) on androgenesis induction and plant regeneration in borage anther cultures. We found that the highest response can be obtained with culture medium containing B5 salts and NLN vitamins, the addition of 200 mg/l colchicine during 4 days, a pretreatment of anthers with 0.2% n-butanol for 5 h, or the application to anthers of single physical stresses (either centrifugation at 300×g or a 100 V electrical shock, but not combined). This is the first report on the production of DH plants in borage. Together, the results presented hereby can be used as a basic framework for large-scale generation of DH plants in this important medicinal species.