In vitro anther culture response in indica rice hybrids

In vitro anther culture (AC) response of thirty hybrids (F-1) of salt-tolerant and susceptible varieties was studied on N-6, B-5 and MS with varying concentrations of auxins and cytokinins. In most crosses, 2,4-D (mostly 2 mg(-1)) with a low level of kinetin was superior in inducing androgenic calli. Thirteen hybrids did not produce calli reaffirming that AC response is largely genotype dependent. Callus-producing ability was 0.83-8.40%. Average numbers of calli were 1.60-4.50 per responding anther. 19-36 days were required for callus initiation. Plant regeneration percentage ranged from 28.56-72.60. MS media with different concentrations of kinetin and BAP was superior in plantlet regeneration. Albinos (0-100%) were abundant among the regenerants. With such low callus-forming and plant regeneration abilities, producing 150 double haploid (DH) lines (minimum for effective field selection) seems to be difficult. This warrants large scale experimentation utilising non conventional, innovative techniques.