Abstract:
Indica rice varieties are highly recalcitrant to anther culture. Androgenesis results in homozygous progeny from a
heterozygous parent in a single generation and provides excellent material for research, plant breeding and plant
transformation. Physical, chemical treatments given to flower buds or anthers prior to culture can be highly inductive
to the development of pollen into plants. The most significant is cold pre treatment and is genotypic dependent. The
aim of this study was to determine the optimum cold pre treatment duration required for anther culture in selected
Indica ricevarieties. Genotypes of BG 379-2, BW 267-3, Kahata wee, and AT 362 varieties were selected for the study
based on their yield and other desirable characters such as grain quality, tolerance to iron toxicity, resistance to pest
and disease which are sufficient for rice breeding programmes. Panicles of these varieties were cold pre treated at
10°C for 6-12 days and anthers were cultured in agar solidified N6 medium supplemented with 2.0 mg / 1 2-4 D, 0.5
mg/1 kinetin and 2.5 mg/1 NAA. The highest callus induction frequency (4.09) was observed in At 362 while the least
was recorded in Kahata wee. The effect of variety and cold pre treatment was significant (p<0.05) for the callus
induction frequency. Cold pre treatment for 7 days at 10 °C had the highest callus induction frequency in genotypes of
Kahata wee, BG379-2, BW 267-3 and AT 362 had highest callus development in 12 days was found to be most effective
for anther culture in experimental genotypes used in the study
