Evaluation of sole nitrogen sources for shoot and leaf disc cultures of sugarbeet

Use of single nitrogen sources in nutrient media is essential to ascertaining the relative role and regulation of nitrogen assimilatory steps, and may help identify and understand highly productive media for micropropagation and adventitious shoot formation. Eight endogenous nitrogen-containing ions or compounds in sugarbeet (nitrate, ammonium, glutamine, glutamate, urea, proline, glycine betaine and choline) were examined for ability to serve as sole nitrogen source for shoot or leaf disc culture of sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.) model clone REL-1. The most productive concentrations of nitrate, ammonium, urea, and glutamine as sole nitrogen sources were moderately supportive of shoot multiplication (64, 70, 81 and 71%, respectively) and fresh weight increase (65, 41, 54 and 41%, respectively) compared to shoot culture growth with the Murashige-Skoog nitrogen mix of 40 mM nitrate and 20 mM ammonium. Glutamate and proline were at best poorly supportive, and glycine betaine and choline were non-supportive. Callus initiation from leaf discs was supported only by nitrate, ammonium, urea, glutamine and proline (50, 100, 100, 100 and 80%, respectively, at the best concentrations, of that on Murashige-Skoog medium). Subsequent shoot regeneration from the intact disc callus in those cultures only occurred on media with nitrate, urea, glutamine, or proline (12, 3, 28 and 3% as many shoots, respectively, as on Murashige-Skoog medium). Overall, the Murashige-Skoog nitrogen mix was superior or equal to any single nitrogen source. However, single nitrogen source media with nitrate, ammonium, urea, glutamine or proline should have significant utility for shoot or leaf disc cultures of mutants with impaired nitrogen assimilation, in comparative physiology studies, or in dual cultures with pathogens of limited ability to use any of these forms of nitrogen. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.