Somatic embryogenesis in pepper anther culture: The effect of incubation treatments and different media

The frequency of obtained androgenic plants depends highly on the genotype; therefore the low rate of haploid recovery limits the utility of anther culture in pepper breeding. The need for incubation treatment and adequate nutrition media supplemented with plant growth regulators, especially auxins, are suggested as important factors to obtain somatic haploid embryos in pepper anther culture. The effect of three incubation treatments of the androgenic potential in pepper anther culture on MS, N, LS, NN and CP medium are summarised, and the results demonstrate that:
• by incubating treatment in cold conditions (at 7 °C) in darkness for 7 days, and then transferring the explants to light conditions (12-h photoperiod at 25 °C) for 4 weeks, on LS and NN mediums, anthers produced callus;
• by incubating treatment in heat conditions (at 25 °C) in darkness for 7 days, and then transferring the explants to light conditions (12-h photoperiod at 25 °C) for 4 weeks, on MS and N mediums, anthers produced callus;
• by incubating treatment in heat conditions (at 35 °C) in darkness for 8 days, the next 4 days to light conditions (12-h photoperiod at 25 °C) on CP medium, and then transferring the explants to R1 medium for 4 weeks, anthers produced embryos.