Improvement of somatic embryogenesis in highland-papaya cell suspensions

Axillary buds (2 mm) from 3-year-old Carica pubescens Lenne et Koch (highland papaya) fruit-bearing plants grown in the greenhouse were cultivated in NN-medium supplemented with different growth regulators naphthaleneacetic acid and indoleacetic acid in combination with Zeatin, benzyladenine, Kinetin and thidiazuron. Several responses were observed within 2–3 months; namely, sprouting of the preformed axillary buds, bud branching into multiple shoots, callus formation at the basal end of the explant and somatic embryogenesis in the preformed callus. Somatic embryogenesis was frequent in most of the tested growth regulator combinations, with the exception of thidiazuron which showed no effect. A much higher yield of somatic embryos could be obtained in suspensions. Somatic embryogenesis was enhanced by the occurence of adventive embryogenesis on single embryos as globular embryo clusters. This was observed in cell suspensions initially grown in a WPM-medium with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, or in combination with benzyladenine or zeatin, for 6 days, then maintained in a growth regulator-free medium under continuous agitation (50 RPM) on an orbital shaker for 3 months. Single cells grown in the absence of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid did not initiate embryogenesis and de-differentiated into callus. Plantlets were recovered after transfer of mature embryos from cell suspensions into Magenta flasks. In a second subculture, adventitious embryogenesis occurred spontaneously in clusters at the globular embryo stage under the same growth conditions, yielding a high number of embryos. The culture conditions described above allowed initiation of a large number of somatic embryos directly from cell suspensions through adventive somatic embryogenesis and indirectly from callus on axillary buds.