Recent Progress in Rice Anther Culture Studies

Abstract

Raina and Iyer (1) identified Crossa-2, a purple pigmented cultivar, as the highest responding from among 25 indica rice cultivars screened for anther response. Subsequently, using Crossa-2 as the test material, Raina (2) carried out studies on the cultural requirements for eliciting increased frequency of anther response and regeneration of shoots and roots from the pollen calli. Anthers at mid-to late-uninucleate pollen stage inoculated on Linsmaier and Skoog’s (3) medium supplemented with 2,4-D (2 mg/1), sucrose 3%, pH 6.0 and incubated at 25°C ± 1°C in dark or under low light intensity (about 200 lux), gave the maximum response. Addition of zeatin (0.01 mg/l) or yeast extract (3 g/1) enhanced the response slightly. Other than that, auxins (IAA, IBA, 2,4-D and NAA) and cytokinins (kinetin and zeatin) individually or in several combinations, or some of the complex growth substances (coconut water, yeast extract and casein hydrolysate) individually or in several combinations with an auxin and/or a cytokinin, in most of the cases induced a much lower response than 2,4-D (2 mg/l) alone. Studies carried out similarly on organ regeneration showed that Linsmaier and Skoog’s medium (LS) + coconut water (CW) (15%) as the most effective medium for inducing shoot-root regeneration from maximum number of pollen calli.