Development of in vitro plant regeneration of Australian native waxflowers (Chamelaucium spp.) via somatic embryogenesis

摘要

Waxflowers (Chamelaucium spp.) are native to Australia and now are grown for the cut flower industry worldwide. As part of an effort to achieve somatic hybridization between the species to improve flower quality, somatic embryogenesis was achieved for Chamelaucium uncinatum and C. repens. Somatic embryos from young leaves of C. uncinatum and C. repens were induced in vitro on Murashige and Skoog (MS) agar medium containing 20 g/l sucrose and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). For C. uncinatum, up to 4% of explants developed somatic embryos at 20 μM 2,4-D and for C. repens, up to 3% developed somatic embryos at 5 μM 2,4-D. Somatic embryos of C. uncinatum were also induced from immature seeds—a maximum of 6% of seed explants producing somatic embryos on MS medium containing 0.05 μM 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 0.5 μM Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). Somatic embryo cultures maintained on MS medium supplemented with 0.1 μM 2,4-D were induced to develop into plantlets after transfer to a hormone-free medium under light. Keywords Waxflower - Chamelaucium spp. - Myrtaceae - Somatic embryogenesis - Plant regeneration