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Polyethylene glycol and maltose enhance somatic embryo maturation in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.)

  • Developmenal Biology/Morphogenesis
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Summary

A culture medium that can efficiently produce mature somatic embryos was developed for loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). The medium contained maltose as a carbohydrate source and polyethylene glycol as an osmoticum. This medium formulation significantly enhanced embryo maturation efficiency compared to a medium with only maltose, or with sucrose combined with polyethylene glycol. Maltose at 4% and polyethylene glycol at 6% resulted in the highest embryo maturation efficiency; an average of around 100 cotyledonary embryos were produced from 1 g of embryogenic tissue. These results suggested that previous ineffective embryo maturation in loblolly pine may be due to the lack of the proper combination of osmoticum and carbohydrate source. This embryo maturation method also improved morphology of cotyledonary embryos of loblolly pine.

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Li, X.Y., Huang, F.H., Murphy, J.B. et al. Polyethylene glycol and maltose enhance somatic embryo maturation in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Plant 34, 22–26 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02823118

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02823118

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