Callus induction and plant regeneration from immature zygotic embryos of various maize genotypes (Zea mays L.)

Abstract

We investigated the callus induction and plant regeneration ability of 16 maize genotypes, including the Korean inbred lines, using 9 to 15 day-old immature zygotic embryos from maize grown in pots and from field cultures. Immature zygotic embryos placed on MS medium supplemented with L-proline 0.7 g/L, MES 0.5 g/L, Dicamba 1.5 mg/L, 2,4-D 0.5 mg/L, AgNO3 4 mg/L, and sucrose 20 g/L, showed the highest frequency of callus induction. The highest number of shoots regenerated when the embryogenic callus were transferred to MS medium supplemented with 5 mg/L zeatin. The root formation was observed when shoots were grown on MS medium supplemented with 0.2 mg/L indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). Additionally, under the same culture conditions, immature zygotic embryos from maize grown in the field also had a high frequency of plant regeneration. Except one genotype, 15 genotypes showed callus induction and shoot regeneration. Among the 16 genotypes tested, H99, B98, HW3, and B73 yielded the best plant regeneration. H99 showed maximum shoot formation from the primary embryogenic callus. The results suggest that genotypes and growth conditions of the maize plant plays very important roles for enhancing the embryogenesis competence of immature zygotic embryos. The successful regeneration from immature zygotic embryos of maize inbred lines provides a basis for molecular breeding of new cultivars by genetic transformation.