Microscopic and Physiological Analysis of Somatic Embryos Under in Vitro Culture in Triticale

Abstract

Somatic embryogenesis is a developmental process during which plant somatic cells, under in vitro conditions, produce embryogenic cells that develop into somatic embryos. Somatic embryogenesis is an efficient method clonal propagation in vitro of plants. Mature embryos were used as explant source for embryogenic callus formation and the callus produced compact, healthy and most mature embryos were induced embryogenic callus. Somatic embryos showed a similar morphologically to their non-somatic counterparts in their development. In a comparative study, total protein, DNSA and activities of some antioxidant enzymes including H2O2, MDA of somatic embryos of three triticale cultivar ‘Tatlıcak, Alper Bey and Mikham’ at embryogenic callus stages were analyzed. However; somatic embryos displayed the highest level of  DNSA, MDA, H2O2 and total protein in all tested cultivars. Our results showed that the triticale somatic embryo maturation process was complete within two years in vitro conditions.