Androgenesis in anther culture of Lithuanian spring barley cultivars

Abstract

The method of anther culture was used for the production of doubled haploids in Lithuanian spring barley cultivars. Two methods, (i) regeneration from callus (Szarjeko’s method) and (ii) direct regeneration from embryoids (Caredda’s method) were applied to determine the androgenic potential according to the green regenerant yield and other morphogenetic factors. Green double haploid regenerants were obtained in four Lithuanian springo barley cultivars (‘Aura’, ‘Aidas’, ‘Alsa’ and ‘Auksiniai’) out of 10 studied. ‘Aura’ was the best for regenerant formation rate from callus by Szarjeko’s method. Applying Caredda’s method, green regenerants were obtained from embryoids in cvs. ‘Aidas’, ‘Alsa’ and ‘Auksiniai’. Cv. ‘Ūla’ showed the highest callus formation rate at the level of 800.0 calli per 100 responding anthers. The highest rate of embryoid formation was determined in cv. ‘Auksiniai 3’ (580.0 embryoids per 100 responding anthers). Keywords: spring barley, anther culture, callus, embryoids, doubled haploids