Production of Plants from Anthers of Solanum Nigrum Cultured in Vitro

SUMMARY

Anthers of Solanum nigrum L. (2 n = 72) were cultured in modified Murashige and Skoog's medium supplemented with NAA, 2,4-D and kinetin (« callus-inducing medium »). Calluses emerging out of the anther slits were later transferred to a differentiation medium with low or no auxins until plantlets began to develop.

Out of 98 plants derived from the calluses, about half were haploid and the remainders were diploid, triploid, or aneuploid.

In the locule of the anthers cultured for a few weeks, various stages of microspores changing to multicellular bodies were observed, indicating that the calluses might be of microspore origin.

In the callus-inducing medium some of the parenchyma cells of callus tissue changed to multicellular bodies or multinucleate giant cells. In the callus sub-cultured for a few months on the differentiation medium, concentric tissues, tracheid-like structures, and shoot primordia developed.