© 2004 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Effect of parent genotype on somatic embryogenesis in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)
Anna-Maija Niskanen (1, 2), Jinrong Lu (1), Sakari Seitz (1), Kaija Keinonen (3), Kim Von Weissenberg (1) and Ari Pappinen (1)
1. Department of Applied Biology, P.O. Box 27, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland / 2. Corresponding author (anna-maija.niskanen@helsinki.fi) / 3. Department of Biology, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 107, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland / Received March 18, 2002; accepted April 30, 2004; published online September 1, 2004
Summary
Controlled crosses of seven Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees produced 49 families that included both reciprocals and selfings. Embryogenic cultures were initiated from immature
megagametophytes and after 6 months in maintenance culture, mature somatic embryos were produced from the surviving 166 lines.
The effect of parent genotypes on the cultures was evaluated at initiation of the tissue culture period, after 6 months in
maintenance culture and at embryo maturation. The effect of the maternal parent was most pronounced at culture initiation.
After 6 months in tissue culture, the maternal effect had decreased and the effects of both parents were significant. By the
somatic embryo maturation stage, the maternal effect was still considerable but the paternal effect was no longer detectable.
There was little correlation between the ranking of mothers and fathers, indicating that the maternal effect was caused by
factors other than the paternal effect. No mother × father interaction was found, indicating that mothers successful at initiation
and after 6 months in tissue culture, pollinated by any of the successful fathers, produced somatic lines and mature somatic
embryos.
Keywords:
elimination of lines, genotype survival, maternal effect, paternal effect, pine clonal propagation.
