Fertile plant regeneration from cell suspension and protoplast cultures of barley (Hordeum vulgare cv Schooner)

Abstract

Fertile plants were regenerated from both cell suspension and protoplast-derived cultures of the two-row barley, Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Schooner. Embryogenic calluses, derived from immature embryos, were used to establish suspension cultures. More than 100 plants, with variable seed set, have been regenerated from six embryogenic cell suspension cultures. Protoplasts isolated from three suspension cultures divided and when the resultant embryogenic proto-calluses were transferred to regeneration medium both green and albino shoots were produced. The green shoots were transferred to growth regulator-free medium and plantlets that developed strong root systems were potted in soil and grown to maturity in the glasshouse. Root tip analysis of plants regenerated from cell suspension cultures revealed the expected 2N = 14 complement of chromosomes. However, chromosomal analysis of protoplast-derived plants showed numerical variation among a proportion of the regenerants.