Ultrastructure of sunflower protoplast derived ealluses differing in their regenerative potential

The ultrastructural properties of microcalluses derived from mesophyll protoplasts of commercial sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) cultivars were investigated by light and electron microscopy. Two culture regimes were chosen: Regime A giving rise to callus formation but of little embryogenic potential and regime B resulting in higher embryogenicity. Bipolar colonies that developed during early stages of regime A were found to be composed of mostly degenerated structures. No differentiation or embryonal organization as suggested by the compactness and shape of the microcalluses could be observed. Amorphous calluses obtained at later stages of the same regime consisted of small groups of meristematic as well as vacuolated cells. Incomplete cellular divisions occurred in almost all colonies grown under the regime A, causing most probably the lack of further callus organization. In contrast calluses of irregular shape, cultivated under regime B, mostly lacked incomplete cell partitioning but showed the formation of organized regions. These structural investigations can give us a tool to identify and characterize the quality of embryogenic calluses.Abbreviations BA 6-benzylaminopurine - 2,4-d 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - V-KM medium of Binding & Nehls (1978)