Induction of microspore-derived embryos by anther culture in selected pepper genotypes

Abstract

Five pepper genotypes (A71, A269, A313, A109 and A74) and four different culture media were tested in this study carried out at the University of Çukurova, Turkey. The anthers were cultured at different periods in order to optimize the frequency of embryo production. Moreover, the embryos that were unable to complete their growth in the culture medium studied were placed in a medium containing 0.5 mgL^-1 abscisic acid for 10 days. At the end of the study, it was determined that embryo development varied with genotype, anther cultivation period and culture medium. The highest yield of embryos was obtained from A269, one of the genotypes tolerant to low temperature. The anthers cultured from April to May, gave the highest yields of embryos compared to anthers from the other periods. Most of the embryos were obtained from Medium III (MS medium containing 4 mg/L NAA, 1 mg/L BAP, 0.25% activated charcoal, 15 mg/L AgNO₃, 30 g/L sucrose) and the Medium IV (modified MS medium containing 0.25% activated charcoal, 15 mg/L AgNO₃, 4 mg/L NAA, 0.1mg/L BAP and with 0.5 mg/L ABA). There was no positive effect of abscisic acid on the mature embryos.

Key words: Pepper (Capsicum annuum), genotype, anther culture, embryo quality.