Nucellus Cultures of two Cucurbits--Luffa cylindrica and Trichosanthes anguina

Nucellus cultures of Luffa cylindrica and Trichosanthes anguina(Cucurbitaceae) have been established. Tracheary differentiationoccurred in cultures of both taxa. Supplementing the culturemedium with 2,4-D caused limited and diffuse differentiationof tracheary elements. In the absence of 2,4-D, tracheary differentiationwas profuse and the tracheary elements formed compact nodules;the differentiation of tracheary nodules could be traced towell-developed meristemoids. Our results show that the formationof tracheary nodules is an ultimate event in morphogenesis andbears no causal relation to organogenesis. The suitability ofthe nucellus as a system for studies on tracheary differentiationis emphasized.