Induction, germination and shoot development of somatic embryos in cassava

Abstract

Four Indonesian and two Latin-American cassava genotypes (Manihot esculenta Crantz), were evaluated for their ability to develop somatic embryos from young leaf lobes. All genotypes formed somatic embryos but they differed in the frequency of embryos induced. The best genotypes, M. Col 22 and Tjurug, produced germinating embryos (GE) on 81% (22.1 GE/initial leaf lobe) and 46% (4.3 GE/initial leaf lobe) of the cultured leaf lobes, respectively. Up to 57% of the germinating embryos of M. Col 22 and 12% of Tjurug produced either normal or malformed shoots. Most malformed shoots developed into shoots with normal morphology after prolonged culture. All shoots formed roots after transfer to medium without BAP. Roots of all normal and most malformed regenerants had the original ploidy level (2n=36). Regardless of whether the plants were multipliedin vitro (150 plants) or in the greenhouse (30 plants) there were no morphological differences compared to parent plants.