Callus induction in culture of Oenothera hookeri and Oenothera picensis anthers

In the present work we try to determine optimum conditions for callus induction in anther culture of Oenothera hookeri and O. picensis. The anther callus yield was increased when the anthers were cultured on modified MS medium supplied with 2 mg dm^-3 2,4-D and 2 mg dm^-3 NAA, in both species. In O. hookeri, best results were obtained when anthers were excised from 7.2 - 9 mm buds at the stage of vacuolated microspores, then pretreated at 4 °C for 2 d and grown under 16-h photoperiod. The response to anther culture of O. picensis was generally very poor compared with that of O. hookeri. The higher yield of calli was obtained when anthers were excised from 6.2 - 8 mm buds at the stage of vacuolated microspores and grown under continuous light. The cold pretreatment of buds decreased anther response in this species. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.