Production of Somatic Embryos of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) from Cell Suspension

The main objective of this study is to obtain many individual and synchronous somatic embryos of date palm in liquid medium and reduce the time of their production. Friable calli were used to establish cell suspension. About 1 g of callus was chopped and cultivated in liquid culture medium containing 2.4-D and placed under rotary shaker (90 rpm) in light conditions at 27 degrees C to initiate cell suspension. After two weeks, the cell-mixture is screened and filtered through a filter with a 1-mm diameter and transplanted in a liquid culture medium with the same composition. Many globular structures "pro-embryos" were observed and transferred in medium without growth regulators. This step is called pre-treatment of the cell suspension. To initiate embryos regeneration, the cell suspension was transferred to medium containing BAP at 5 mu moles for one week to develop leaf axis and transferring on the filter paper placed on a solid culture medium without growth regulators. Many young plantlets were obtained; their rooting was promoted by addition of ANA.