In vitro anther culture response in indica rice hybrids

In vitro anther culture (AC) response of thirty hybrids (F1) of salt-tolerant and susceptible varieties was studied on N6, B5 and MS with varying concentrations of auxins and cytokinins. In most crosses, 2,4-D (mostly 2mg−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.