Protocols for Anther and Microspore Culture of Barley

The establishment of true breeding lines is a critical step for variety development in most crop plants. Traditionally, plant breeders have achieved homozygosity for all genes by using the time- and labor-intensive methods of self-fertilization or backcrossing. The phenomenon of parthenogenesis allows the use of androgenetic in vitro methods in order to shorten the time needed for the production of homozygous plants. It is possible to switch microspore development from the normal gametophytic pathway into the sporophytic pathway. The process of microspore embryogenesis makes it possible to regenerate homozygous plants originating from single cells. In barley, there is a high percentage—up to 90% dependent on the genotype—of dihaploid regenerants owing to a single autoendoreduplication of the genome during the first division of the microspore. Accordingly, there is no need for an application of agents, such as, e.g., colchicine, to induce chromosome doubling.