A method to produce encapsulatable units for synthetic seeds in Asparagus officinalis

A method to produce encapsulatable units for synthetic seeds was developed in Asparagus officinalis L. Encapsulatable units with high conversion ability in non-sterile soil were produced from somatic embryos by a pre-encapsulation culture. The synthetic seeds containing somatic embryos without the pre-encapsulation culture did not germinate in soil. When the pre-encapsulation culture medium did not contain growth regulators, the roots elongated too much to accomplish encapsulation. Several growth regulators were studied and indole-3-acetic acid was considered to be optimum at 28.5 μM. The pre-encapsulation culture medium with indole-3-acetic acid inhibited the growth of roots during the pre-encapsulation culture and produced compact encapsulatable units. The growth of roots was promoted when plants were produced from the encapsulatable units. The percent conversion of the synthetic seeds with these encapsulatable units was 72% in non-sterile soil. This is the first report on synthetic seeds in Asparagus officinalis L.