Effect of genotype on microspore culture of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Microspore embryogenesis is a promising method for obtaining androgenic haploid and doubled haploid (DH) plants. This research aimed to examine genotype effect, which is one of factors influencing microspore embryogenesis, in three eggplant F₁ cultivars. For this purpose, the microspores were firstly isolated from the anthers containing mostly vacuolate microspores and young bicellular pollen and subjected to pre-treatment at 35°C for 3 days in dark conditions. After pre-treatment, the microspores were cultured in liquid NLN culture medium supplemented with 2% sucrose, 0.5 mg L^‑1 naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), and 0.5 mg L^‑1 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), pH 5.9, and kept in the dark at 25°C for one month. Immediately after induction, before the microspores develop into callus, they were induced to divide symmetrically and form multinucleated structures, and then microspores did not form direct embryos but formed callus. At the end of one month, only callus formation occurred from microspores and total callus number per Petridish, therefore, was analyzed. The cultivars showed differences in calli formation. The average calli was 31.44 calli per Petri dish for ‘Amadeo’, was 10.22 calli per Petri dish for ‘Faselis’ while ‘Anamur’ did not exhibit any microspore-derived structures or callus formation.