Factors affecting androgenesis in Indica rice

Abstract

For its effective utilization in breeding programmes, the haploid production technique should allow genotype-independent production of large numbers of haploids. Although anther culture has been successfully used to hasten the breeding programmes in several crop species, including rice, there still remain problems to realize its full potential. Unlike the highly responsive model systems, most of the indica cultivars respond rather poorly in anther cultures. There is also concern regarding the gametic spectrum representation by the anther culture-derived doubled haploids. If there is a biased representation of recombinants possessing better culturability, it is important to analyse how seriously it effects the objectives of the breeder. Whereas in maize androgenesis occurs via embryogenesis, in barley, wheat and rice the microspores divide to form a callus which later differentiate plants. Both the steps require different culture conditions and are affected by the genetic make-up of the plants. Recently, the physiology of the donor plants has been identified as a critical factor in achieving better anther culture efficiency. In this paper the factors affecting androgenesis in rice, particularly indica rice will be discussed.