Although it is generally accepted that plant in vitro culture response is influenced by the donor genotype, the genetic and molecular bases of this phenomenon are barely known. As a consequence, the optimization of tissue culture protocols is mainly empirically done. Researchers of the IGEAF studied the genetic basis of the in vitro regeneration of various plant species, including the tissue culture response of artificially induced barley mutants. One barley mutant, MC 169, carries a nuclear gene, recently described controlling the root growth in hydroponic cultivation. Under this condition, the roots of MC 169 mutant plants were longer than those of the original wild type line MC 182, a fact that was associated with a reduced ethylene biosynthesis. On the... |