Doubled haploid production via anther culture in annual,winter type of caraway (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Carum carvi</Emphasis> L.)

Caraway (Carum carvi L.) is a traditional medicinal and spice cross-pollinated plant species. Although in vitro techniques are recently extensively applied in plant breeding programmes, these are not commonly utilized in caraway. Therefore, based on the protocol for anther culture in carrot (Daucus carota L., a closely related species of caraway in Daucaceae family), in vitro androgenesis in caraway has been studied with the aim to produce completely homozygous inbred lines. Various induction conditions, such as temperature pretreatments, carbon sources and combination of growth regulators in a culture medium as well as the effect of genotype on in vitro androgenesis were examined. Ten breeding lines of winter caraway representing third generation of forced (artificial) self-pollination were used as donor plant material. Cultured anthers produced embryogenic calli, and subsequently two types of regenerated plants were obtained, namely haploids with evident microspore origin, and diploids which may represent somatic (anther wall) regenerants or spontaneous doubled haploids. The ploidy status of regenerated plants was determined by flow cytometry. This is the first report on androgenic doubled haploid production in caraway.