Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. Italica group) breeders are increasingly using anther or microspore culture to produce dihaploid (diploid), homozygous lines for use in making hybrids. During the process of anther culture and subsequent plant regeneration, wherein embryos develop from microspores and plants are regenerated from the embryos, polyploidization occurs and diploid regenerants can result. However, polyploidization may not occur at all, or it may involve a tripling or quadrupling of the chromosome complement, instead of a doubling. Thus, populations may contain haploids, triploids, or tetraploids, in addition to diploids. In two cycles (1994-95 and 1995-96) of anther culture, regenerated populations from different broccoli hybrid sources were evaluated using flow cytometry to facilitate efficient identification of diploids vs. haploids, tetraploids, or others and to determine if anther donor genotype has an effect on the frequency of different ploidy levels among regenerants. In the first cycle, five broccoli hybrids had anther-derived populations in which ≈33% were haploid, 55% diploid, 37% tetraploid, and 5% aneuploid or abherent types. The hybrid, `Marathon', was different; it's regenerants were 78% diploid and only 15% tetraploid. In the second cycle, anther-derived populations had a significantly different makeup with a most hybrids giving 30% to 40% diploids and 50% to 60% tetraploids. However, consistent with the previous cycle, `Marathon' gave significantly more diploids (68%) and fewer tetraploids (25%) than other hybrids. These results indicate that anther donor genotype affects ploidy frequency among regenerants. Genotypes producing a high frequency (>60%) of diploids may be relatively uncommon.
Effects of Broccoli Donor Genotype on Incidence of Diploids in Populations Regenerated from Anther Culture
