Somatic embryogenesis in white clover (Trifolium repens L.)

I White Clover (Trifolium repens L.) is an important perennial forage legume widely cultivated in Turkey and many other countries. It also helps in improving soil structure by fixing atmospheric nitrogen, and prevents soil erosion. The application of modern tissue culture techniques to this important plant should contribute to improvement in terms of production. Hypocotyls, epicotyl and cotyledon explants of a local ecotype of white clover were treated with various concentrations of Thidiazuron (TDZ) + Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and kinetin + NAA in MS medium to establish an efficient in vitro somatic embryogenesis system. High frequency of embryogenesis was observed on the MS medium containing 9.29 mM kinetin + 1.07 mM NAA (14.35embryos per explant) or 0.34 mM TDZ + 0.54 mM NAA (29.62 embryos per explant). It was concluded that embryogenesis was significantly influenced by the added plant growth regulators in the concentration-dependent manner;: Plantlets from the embryos were recovered on the MS medium and were transferred to a greenhouse, where they flowered and set fertile seeds.