Culture conditions for efficient induction of green plants from isolated microspores of barley
Subculture regime and carbohydrate concentration of the medium had a marked effect on the regeneration of green plantlets from mechanically isolated microspores of Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Kymppi. A sevenfold increase in the yield of green plants was obtained by shortening the suspension culture time of the developing proembryo mass from 4 to 3 weeks. A further twofold increase was obtained by increasing the maltose concentration of the microspore isolation medium and of the culture medium. Under optimal conditions, a mean of 169±97 green plants per spike were regenerated.
Induction of microspore embryogenesis in cultured anthers of hordeum vulgare. The effects of ammonium nitrate, glutamine and asparagine as nitrogen sources
Improvement of the yield of green plants was obtained by decreasing the concentration of ammonium nitrate in the culture medium and using glutamine as a nontoxic nitrogen source. Embryoids developed directly from the microspores on such media, and frequently green plants were obtained by germination of the embryoids on the induction medium, whereas formation of calli was greatly reduced.Ficoll was tested as a carrier agent in liquid barley anther culture. It gave a higher total yield of embryoids resulting from an increased number of responding anthers and an increased number of developed structures. When anthers were floated on a Ficoll medium surface the microspores developed inside the anther. After several mitotic divisions the anther wall burst and the proembryoids were expelled onto the surface of the medium. Here their development continued by germination. The substitution of ammonium nitrate by glutamine or asparagine in the liquid medium containing Ficoll was found to be beneficial for culture development.This report is based on the regeneration of 6,827 green plants, with an optimal average ratio of green to albino plants of 1.8. A frequency of 4.6 green plants per plated anther was obtained.
Assessment of some agro-technological parameters of cactus pear fruit ( Opuntia ficus-indica Mill . ) in Morocco cultivars
Cactaceae had always attracted attention by their strange shapes and important adaptability supporting extreme conditions. For this reasons, Fruit traits were measured on 13 cultivars growing in different locations in Morocco. Results show significant differences between the cultivars. The source of this variation was probably genetic without excluding the geographic effects. The Tamri, Berkan, Ait Baha cultivars showed small fruit dimensions and weight. In contrast, Sidi-Ifni M, Nador, Mohammedia and Ben Guerir were greater than 100 g by fruit. Sidi-Ifni M, Hoceima, Mohammedia and Nador, although larger, contained few seeds, about 200 seeds per fruit; while Tamri, Ait Baha, Safi, Meknes and Tafraout contained over than 230 seeds per fruit. High levels of juice about 62 ml/100 g pulp were obtained with Sidi-Ifni M, Nador, Mohammedia and Ben Guerir cultivars. Total sugars of the 13 cultivars were quite similar and pH was low in Tamri and close to neutrality in the rest of cultivars. Therefore, oil extracted from Opuntia ficus-indica seeds constituted 13.6% of the whole seed. Thin-layer chromatography in conjunction with gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed a relatively high degree of unsaturation, 83.32% and 16% for saturated fatty acid, with a linoleic acid content of 63.66% followed by oleic 18.34%, palmitic 12.84% and stearic acid 2.81%. Based on these results, O. ficus-indica seed oil appears to be a good potential source of edible oil for human and (or) animal consumption. Our investigation describes that Tamri and Tafraout cultivars are not really a commercial viable fruit due to low total soluble solids value and highest seeds number per fruit. Against Mohammedia, Sidi Ifni M and Nador cultivars proved to have the highest fruit weight, very good total soluble solids value and low number of seeds, these cultivars can therefore be planted for both fruit production and for harvesting of cladodes for animal feed.