Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from hypocotyl protoplasts of Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss

Abstract

A novel system for plant regeneration from hypocotyl protoplasts of Brassica juncea cv Leaf Heading and India Mustard was developed. Protoplasts divided rapidly and gave rise to pro-embryos at frequencies of 3-6% for Leaf Heading and 15-20% for India Mustard after 17 days on Murashige & Skoog's medium supplemented with 6% glucose and benzyladenine (BA) in combination with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid each at 1 or 2.5 μM. Abundant plantlets were regenerated from embryogenic cultures of India Mustard grown on hormone-free medium, whereas regeneration of Leaf Heading was low. The presence of AgNO3 at 30 μM in conjuction with 10 μM BA and 2.7 μM naphthaleneacetic acid considerably enhanced plant regeneration of Leaf Heading. After acclimatization all protoplast-derived plants of India Mustard and 91% of Leaf Heading were phenotypically normal. © 1990.