Anther culture as a breeding tool in rape

Summary Progeny analysis of androgenetic plants from inbred rape-seed (Brassica napus) shows that selective growth of microspores can occur in cultured anthers. The property of privileged growth in culture seems to be linked to such characters as flowering time and seed glucosinolate content which can be analyzed in regenerated plants. This type of selection and the fact that more variability is visible in regenerants from different microspores than in the progeny of the highly inbred anther donor line, demonstrates the higher degree of homozygosity in the doubled amphihaploids of B. napus. Furthermore, it is shown that haploid genomes of rape may be mutable. Thus it is possible to obtain several different homozygous lines from a single microspore. A system of haploid embryoids arising from single cells of the primary microspore regenerant has also been used to produce experimentally induced mutants. It is demonstrated that recessive mutations can be obtained in a homozygous state in doubled haploid regenerants from mutagenized haploid single cells.Part of the material analyzed in this work was produced under the guidance of Emrys Thomas when he was one of the project leaders of the Projektgruppen Haploide in der Pflanzenzüchtung at the Max-Planck-Institut für Pflanzengenetik in Ladenburg. His untimely death at the age of 36 (May 23, 1981), which overtook him at his new place of work at Harpenden, prevented him seeing the completion of this paper. It is dedicated to the memory of this distinguished and restless researcher and highly-valued colleague