Improvement of somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum Desf.) scutellum and inflorescence cultures

Scutellum and inflorescence explants of four genotypes of durum wheat(Triticum turgidum var. durum Desf.) were used to define culture conditions to obtain high frequencies of embryogenesis and plant regeneration in vitro. Under all conditions tested, scutellum cultures gave higher frequencies of embryogenesis and plant regeneration than inflorescence cultures. Two different auxins, 2,4-D(2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and picloram(4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid), were compared for their effect on scutellum and inflorescence explant response in vitro. Picloram was found to significantly increase the frequency of plant regeneration from both explants. When cultures were grown on regeneration medium containing zeatin for two three-week passages, the frequency of plant regeneration increased by between 20–30% compared with cultures exposed to hormones for a single three-week passage. Finally, the addition of 1 mg/l 6-BAP (6-benzyl aminopurine) to the plantlet growth medium was found to enhance tiller production in regenerants. The optimized culture conditions were applicable to the four genotypes tested and frequencies of plant regeneration varied between 97% to 100% for scutellum cultures (2 mg/l picloram in induction medium) and between45% and 80% for inflorescence cultures (4 mg/l picloram in induction medium). The number of plants regenerated per explant was improved over previous procedures, with means of 34 plants per scutellum, and 16 plants per inflorescence explant.