Patent Abstract:
this invention is directed to a method for producing somatic embryos on plant tissue . furthermore , somatic embryos may be produced using explants obtained from a broad range of plant species , and using either juvenile or mature tissues . the method involves obtaining a stock tissue culture plantlet by exposing the plant tissue to a medium comprising salts , vitamins and an energy source ; preparing an explant from the stock tissue culture plantlet ; transferring the explant to a proliferation medium comprising salts , vitamins , an energy source and at least one growth regulator for a period of time sufficient to produce a callused explant ; and transferring the callused explant to a medium comprising salts , vitamins , an energy source and at least two growth regulators for a period of time sufficient to produce somatic embryos . following this method somatic embryos are produce in significantly less time that observed using other somatic embryogenesis protocols . plants produced from the somatic embryos are easily prepared . since somatic embryos can be obtained from mature tissues , specific plants of agronomic importance comprising desirable traits , may now be clonally propagated . furthermore , somatic embryos produced following the method of this invention may be used for the preparation of synthetic seed .

Detailed Description:
the present invention relates to a method for the production of somatic embryos in plants . following the method of this invention , somatic embryos are observed using mature tissues as the material from which somatic embryos are produced . somatic embryos have been obtained using a large range of potato germplasm as well as several other species of plants , for example but not limited to , tomato ( all genotypes tested ) and lettuce ( all genotypes tested ). furthermore , preliminary tests indicate that other species are amenable to the production of somatic embryos following the method of this invention . globular , heart - shaped and torpedo somatic embryos are observed in all cultures , and embryos excised from these embryos have been grown as plants . emblings and fully established plants are easily grown from somatic embryos produced using the method of this invention . an analysis of plants regenerated from emblings ( that is the small plantlet grown from a somatic embryo ) indicates that off - types are not always observed . however , the frequency of observed off - types appears to be influenced by the genotype from which the somatic embryo was obtained , since several genotypes exhibited higher rates of off - types than others . the method of this invention involves the exposure of explant tissues to short - period treatments of at least two media formulations comprising different compositions of growth regulators . as a result of the use of the method described herein , somatic embryos are obtained within significantly shorter time - frame than prior art methods . furthermore , the present method is readily adaptable to a range of plant species and cultivars that other wise have not been amenable to the production of somatic embryos , and has proven effective using both mature or juvenile tissues in order to produce somatic embryos . furthermore , reculture of somatic embryos is possible using the method of this invention . the basic method is outlined below , however , it is to be understood that variations within this method are readily within the skill of one of skill within the art , and alterations and variations to the over all protocol of this invention are to be considered within the scope of the method disclosed below . in order to exemplify the method and possible medium compositions used , the production of somatic embryos from potato is first outlined , however , variations in this protocol have also been successfully used to obtain somatic embryos from a range of potato cultivars including tetraploid , diploid and monoploid mature tissue , as well as several cultivars of tomato and lettuce . somatic embryos have been obtained from juvenile potato tissue within the prior art ( petrova and dedicova , 1992 ) as well as cultured plant material ( garcia and martinez , 1995 ), however , the protocol used is time consuming . for example garcia and martinez report that their method requires about 20 to 25 weeks , that is , 5 weeks for callus formation , 12 weeks for embryogenic callus formation and a further 8 weeks for high frequency somatic embryo production in potato ( see page 529 of garcia and martinez , 1995 ). furthermore , their method and has several drawbacks including abnormal embryo development . the method of this invention produces high frequency embryos in potato within 4 to 6 weeks , with no abnormal embryo development . other comparisons are provided in table 1 , below . stock tissue culture plantlets of potato cultivars may be propagated using any suitable means . for example , cultivars may be propagated by single - node cuttings established from shoot tips excised from potato sprouts , or root , leaf or microtuber tissues . cultures are grown in vitro under any suitable day / night regime , and the growth temperature should be maintained from about 12 ° c . to about 23 ° c . without wishing to limit the method of this invention in any manner , the following conditions have proved to be suitable for the preparation of stock material : standard cool white fluorescent lamps supplying a suitable light intensity , for example of 25 w / m 2 a growth temperature of 19 ° c .± 1 . the basal culture medium can be selected from several available within the art , for example murashige and skoog ( 1962 ), however , other media as known to those of skill in the art may also be used . for example suitable media may include white &# 39 ; s medium ( white 1963 ), or linsmayer and skoog &# 39 ; s medium ( linsmayer and skoog 1965 ) or the like may also be used . this medium should comprise a salt solution , vitamins , and an energy source , for example sucrose , with no added growth regulators . the following medium ( medium # 1 ), which is not to be considered limiting in any manner , may be used to culture the stock plants from which the subsequent explant material such as a stem intenode explants ( or root , leaf , or microtuber derived explants ), are obtained . ______________________________________medium # 1______________________________________murashige and skoog ( 1962 ) salts , full strengthenergy source , sucrose 30 g / lmyo - inositol 100 g / lvitaminsnicotinic acid 0 . 5 mg / lpantothenic acid 2 . 5 mg / lpyridoxine . hcl 1 . 0 mg / lthiamine . hcl 0 . 5 mg / lph 5 . 8tc agar ( jrh biosciences ltd .) 8 g / l______________________________________ when stock plantlets have been incubated under the above conditions from about 2 to about 20 weeks , or preferably from about 3 to about 10 weeks , or more preferably , from about four to about five weeks , sections of stem internode are excised aseptically and placed onto proliferation medium ( medium # 2 ). the length of stem internode may vary per cultivar used , a suitable length , for example , may be from about 0 . 5 to about 1 . 5 cm . best results in producing the maximum number of somatic embryos per explant are observed if healthy , vigorous stock tissue culture plantlets material is used . the proliferation medium , medium # 2 , is typically a semi - solid medium , however , other media exhibiting a range of consistencies may also be found to be effective . suitable proliferation media , without intending to limit the use of other media for this purpose , may comprise thidiazuron or bap , and optionally indole acetic acid . several compositions of medium 2 are listed below as examples of proliferation media , however , variations of the composition of medium # 2 have been found to be effective in producing somatic embryos with different cultivars ( see medium 2 a to 2 d -- below ), therefore , other variations of the composition of medium # 2 may also be effective as a proliferation medium : ______________________________________medium # 2 , proliferation medium______________________________________medium 2amurashige and skoog ( 1962 ) salts , full strengthenergy source , sucrose 30 g / lmyo - inositol 100 mg / lvitaminsnicotinic acid 0 . 5 mg / lpantothenic acid 2 . 5 mg / lpyridoxine 1 . 0 mg / lthiamine . hcl 0 . 5 mg / l * thidiazuron 0 . 15 μm * indole acetic acid 19 μmph 5 . 8tc agar 6 . 5 g / lmedium # 2bmurashige and skoog ( 1962 ) salts , full strengthenergy source , sucrose 30 g / lmyo - inositol 100 mg / lvitaminsnicotinic acid 0 . 5 mg / lpantothenic acid 2 . 5 mg / lpyridoxine 1 . 0 mg / lthiamine 0 . 5 mg / l * thidiazuron 0 . 15 μmph 5 . 8tc agar 65 . g / lmedium # 2cmurashige and skoog ( 1965 ) salts , full strengthenergy source , sucrose 30 glmyo - inositol 100 mg / lvitaminsnicotinic acid 0 . 5 mg / lpantothenic acid 2 . 5 mg / lpyridoxine 1 . 0 mg / lthiamine 0 . 5 mg / l * bap 0 . 15 μm * iaa 19 μmph 5 . 8tc agar 6 . 5 g / lmedium # 2dmurashige and skoog ( 1965 ) salts , full strengthenergy source , sucrose 30 g / lmyo - inositol 100 mg / lvitaminsnicotinic acid 0 . 5 mg / lpantothenic acid 2 . 5 mg / lpyridoxine 1 . 0 mg / lthiamine 0 . 5 mg / l * bap 0 . 15 μmph 5 . 8tc agar 6 . 5 g / l______________________________________ * filter sterilized explants are maintained on medium # 2 from about 3 days to about 4 weeks , or more preferably from about 6 to 15 days . a suitable time for maintaining explants on this medium , which should not be considered limiting in any manner , is of about 7 days . tissues maintained on medium # 2 increase in size , and the cut surfaces of the tissues has been found to suberize . routinely , an increase in size of about five - fold is observed . a nodular , callus forms on the cut surface of the explants , typically in 1 to 2 weeks after incubation on medium # 2 . following this step , the explants are transferred to medium # 3 . an example of medium # is described below , however , variations in the composition of this medium may be used and this composition is not to be considered limiting in any manner : ______________________________________medium # 3______________________________________murashige and skoog ( 1962 ) salts , full strengthenergy source , sucrose 30 g / lmyo - inositol 100 mg / lvitaminsnicotinic acid 1 . 0 mg / lthiamine . hcl 0 . 5 mg / lpantothenic acid 0 . 5 mg / lpyridoxine 1 . 0 mg / l * zeatin 12 . 0 μm * indole acetic acid 0 . 05 μm * gibberellic acid 0 . 55 μmph 5 . 8tc agar 8 g / l______________________________________ * filter sterilized somatic embryos typically form from about two to about six weeks after explants are transferred to medium # 3 , and have been observed first on the edge of cut surfaces and then to form over the callused cut surface . following the above protocol , over 100 somatic embryos per 1 cm of stem internode tissue have been observed . it is preferred that fresh explant material be cultured to produce more embryos , however , embryogenic callus may be subcultured to produce somatic embryos if required . a comparison of the method of this invention with that of the prior art is provided in table 1 . table 1______________________________________comparison between the method of this invention and a prior artmethod on somatic embryogenesis of potato ( solanum tuberosum l .). characteristic garcia and martinez method of this invention______________________________________stock material tissue culture tissue culture plantlets plantletsnutrient media for ms salts , vitamins , ms salts , vitamins , nostock plantlets ga . sub . 3 , 0 . 1 mg / l ., growth regulators , 30 g / l 2 . 5 g / l sucrose sucrose ( medium # 1 ) explant tissue nodal sections ( i . e . internodal sections of sections of tissue mature in vitro plantlets including the axillary established in vitro for bud subtended by leaf 2 years , responsive petiole ) of mature explants are excised from in vitro plantlets anywhere along the established in vitro , plantlet . formation of close to shoot apex somatic embryos mostly on lower portion ( distal ) of internode stem section , although this appears to be under genotypic control . somatic embryos also from on leaf , root and microtuber ( in vitro formed tubers ) - although somewhat less frequently . callus phase 5 weeks for callus callus formation in 1 - 2 formation weeks on medium # 2 . callus morphology callus was friable & amp ; callus is nodular , light green for first month , green to yellow , then became compact , and forms &# 34 ; compact , lobate directly on cut end of & amp ; brownish &# 34 ; stem internodes . culture media solidified with gelrite solidified with agar ( a resin gum ) ( natural product ) media components induction medium : medium # 2 : thidiazuron ms , 2 , 4 - d2 . 0 mg / l or bap ( 0 . 15 μm ); with ( 0 . 15 μm ) and yeast or without indole acetic extract . multiplication acid ( 19 μm ). medium : ms 2 mg / l medium # 3 zeatin 2 , 4d , yeast extract ( 12 μm ); iaa ( 50 nm ); differentiation ga , ( 550 nm ) medium : ms ga , ( 0 . 1 mg / l ) or ba ( 1 mg / l ) - no 2 , 1d nor yeast extract . somatic embryo report that three somatic embryoformation months is required observed after 2 - 4 weeks to produce embryo - on medium # 3 . high genic callus . two frequency somatic more months for embryo formation high frequency immediately for most somatic embryo cultivars tested . production . genotypic variability for time to embryo formation and numbers of embryos . cultivars reported to desiree , ac novachip , atlanticform somatic embryos brador , caribe , desiree ,, in culture katahdin , kennebec , royal gold , ruby gold , russet burbank , russet norkotah , saginaw gold , shepody , superior , temagami yukon gold , f80054 , f83065 . somatic embryos have been observed on every cultivar tested . synchrony of non - synchronous some synchronydevelopment development reported . observed . but all three development stages ( globular , heart - shaped and torpedo ) can be found at one timesecondary somatic secondary somatic no secondary embryosembryo formation embryos observed on observed . hypocotyl of torpedo - shaped somatic embryos . developmental stages all developmental all developmental stages stages reported . observed . somatic somatic embryos embryos appear to be appear to be embedded in surrounding embedded in tissues - no suspensor - surrounding like structures observed . tissues - no suspensor - like structure observed . abnormalities some abnormal no abnormal somatic somatic embryos embryos observed . reported in cultures . mature somatic embryos necessary to transfer ( late torpedo state , all three stages sometimes curved like to ms medium with zygotic embryos ) when no growth regulators transferred onto ms for normal develop - growth regulator - ment of ` emblings ` free medium develop in plantlets . into emblings which resemble morphology of potato seedlings . embling development emblings develop into emblings develop intofrom somatic embryos plantlets ( presumably plants in vitro rapidly . in vitro ) after from globular embryo 45 days . to 1 cm high embling takes 2 - 4 weeks . environmental temperature : temperature : 19 c . ± 1conditions for 23 c . ± 1 light : 16 h photoperiodtissue culture light : continuous light light intensity : 120 μmol light intensity : 50 . sup .- 2 s . sup .- 1 provided by cool - μmol m . sup .- 2 s . sup .- 1 white and agrolite fluorescent lamps ( 1 : 1 ) root development no reported explants will produceon explants many roots if left on medium # 1 more than 5 - 10 days . this is cultivar dependent . presence of root initials appears to be no problem on explants producing somatic embryos because roots do not develop on medium # 2 . ______________________________________ somatic embryos produced using the method of this invention may be stored or manipulated for the generation of emblings and fully established plants ( see below ). if desired , somatic embryos may be cryopreserved using established techniques ( e . g . bajaj et al ., 1995b ), or dried and encapsulated with a synthetic endosperm and used as synthetic seed for mechanical handling and planting ( e . g . bajaj 1995 a ; litz and gray , 1995 ; senaratna , 1992 ; redenbaugh et al ., 1991 and 1992 ). the ability to maintain somatic embryos for long periods of time helps in ensuring a constant supply of germplasm of agronomically important species . furthermore , the maintenance , and propagation of transgenic plants , comprising a gene of interest is feasible using the method described herein . following the transformation of a plant using standard transformation protocols ( e . g . agrobacterium mediated transfer , particle bombardment etc . ), desired plants may be propagated via somatic embryogenesis using the method described herein . this method would involve : ii ) screening transformed plants to obtain a plant with the desired set of characteristics ; iv ) preparing somatic embryos using the method of this invention as described above . somatic embryos may themselves be used for the preparation of a transgenic plant using established protocols including agrobacterium ( mathews et al ., 1992 ), microinjection ( neuhaus et al ., 1987 ), particle bombardment ( wilde et al ., 1992 ) or other protocols as would be evident to one of skill in the art . this method would involve : i ) preparing somatic embryos according to the method of this invention ; iii ) screening the transformed somatic embryos for the presence of the gene of interest ; iv ) growing the selected somatic embryo into a plant ; and optionally to aid in identification of transformed plant cells , constructs comprising the gene of interest may include plant selectable markers . useful selectable markers include enzymes which provide for resistance to an antibiotic such as gentamycin , hygromycin , kanamycin , and the like . similarly , enzymes providing for production of a compound identifiable by colour change such as gus ( β - glucuronidase ), or luminescence , such as luciferase are useful . after a short incubation period of one to two weeks on medium # 2 ( described above ), tissues are transferred to medium # 3 ( which is also termed regeneration medium ) comprising zeatin , indole acetic acid , gibberellic acid , solidified with agar ( see above ). note that auxin can be omitted from medium # 2 . somatic embryos generally form in 2 to 4 weeks of incubation of medium # 3 . we have observed that some cultivars of potato are slower to respond than others ( e . g . shepody &# 39 ;). both distal and proximal cut surfaces of the stem internode explants may produce somatic embryos , but they are more prevalent on the distal ( lower ) surface , although this may be cultivar dependent . occasionally , somatic embryos will form on the lateral surface of the stem explants . all potato cultivars , including tetraploid ( 48 chromosomes ), diploid ( 24 chromosomes ) and monoploid ( 12 chromosomes ) of selected solanum genotypes , obtained and publicly available from the fredericton research centre , tested to date have regenerated somatic embryos in vitro . to the best of our knowledge , no previous report has been found in the literature reporting the induction of somatic embryos on potato germplasm with less than the tetraploid complement of 48 chromosomes . without wishing to be bound by theory , it appears that the productivity of somatic embryos is under genetic control . the time to form somatic embryos , the number of explants responding to induction techniques , and the number of somatic embryos per explant all vary with the cultivar tested . clonal differences in the number of stem internodes which produced somatic embryos are also evident ( tables 2 and 3 ). most cultivars produce somatic embryos on all explants , but potato cultivars caribe ( 22 %), ruby gold ( 9 %), shepody ( 9 %), temagami ( 17 %), and yukon gold ( 51 %) have been observed to only produce somatic embryos on a portion of the cultured explants ( table 2 and 3 ). changes in media formulation may be required to enhance or produce somatic embryos on some potato cultivars , such minor modifications would be evident to one of skill in the art . for instance , ruby gold and temagami form more somatic embryos when placed on medium 2b ( described above ). previous workers have reported that auxin is mandatory for the induction of somatic embryos in most plant systems ( e . g . raghavan 1986 ). however , the results presented herein demonstrate that auxin is not required in all stages of this process . for example , medium # 2 , lacking auxin is effective in producing somatic embryos . furthermore , several cultivars produce more somatic embryos if medium # 2 lacks auxin ( e . g . royal gold , ruby gold and temagami ). table 2______________________________________number of embryos produced per stem internode explant of potato ( solanum tuberosum l ) in vitro on medium # 2 ( one week ) and 3 ( 9 weeks ). number of mean number of embryoscultivar explants with embryos per explant______________________________________ac novachip 139 / 140 13 . 6 ± 8 . 6atlantic 119 / 119 15 . 9 ± 8 . 3brador 120 / 120 23 . 1 ± 11 . 2caribe 38 / 109 6 . 5 ± 7 . 8desiree , 40 / 40 36 . 1 ± 20 . 7f80054 110 / 110 25 . 1 ± 18 . 7f83065 123 / 123 44 . 5 ± 23 . 5katahdin 134 / 147 14 . 3 ± 9 . 8kennebec 156 / 160 10 . 2 ± 6 . 7royal gold 24 / 30 17 . 4 ± 12 . 2ruby gold 3 / 32 3 . 0 ± 2 . 2russet burbank 72 / 72 28 . 4 ± 17russet norkotah 111 / 127 10 . 5 ± 8 . 8saginaw gold 102 / 113 8 . 5 ± 6 . 2shepody 17 / 120 3 . 9 ± 4 . 0superior 121 / 121 10 . 7 ± 5 . 9temagami 35579 4 . 1 ± 3 . 2yukon gold 58 / 114 2 . 2 ± 1 . 8______________________________________ table 3__________________________________________________________________________somatic embryo production on stem internode explants of various cultivarsof potato ( solanum tuberosum l .) in vitro over 10 weeks . explants were placed onmedium 1 for1 week and then transferred to medium 2 for the remaining 9 weeks . weeks on media 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10__________________________________________________________________________ac novachip # explants with embryos 0 0 35 / 140 106 / 140 125 / 140 139 / 140 139 / 140 139 / 140 139 / 140 139 / 140 % explants with embryos 0 0 25 % 75 . 7 % 89 . 3 % 99 . 3 % 99 . 3 % 99 . 3 % 99 . 3 % 99 . 3 % atlantic # explants with embryos 0 0 2 / 119 87 / 119 119 / 119 119 / 119 119 / 119 119 / 119 119 / 119 119 / 119 % explants with embryos 0 0 1 . 7 % 73 . 1 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 100 % 100 % brador # explants with embryos 0 0 0 83 / 150 114 / 120 120 / 120 120 / 120 120 / 120 120 / 120 120 / 120 % explants with embryos 0 0 0 55 % 83 . 3 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % caribe # explants with embryos 0 0 0 1 / 111 1 / 111 3 / 111 4 / 109 11 / 109 21 / 109 25 / 109 % explants with embryos . 9 % . 9 % 2 . 7 % 3 . 7 % 10 . 1 % 19 . 3 % 22 . 9 % desiree ,# explants with embryos 0 0 0 5 / 40 40 / 40 40 / 40 40 / 40 40 / 40 40 / 40 40 / 40 % explants with embryos 12 . 5 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % f80054 # explants with embryos 0 0 0 14 / 110 92 / 110 109 / 110 110 / 110 110 / 110 110 / 110 110 / 110 % explants with embryos 0 0 0 12 . 7 % 83 . 6 % 99 . 1 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % f83065 # explants with embryos 0 0 0 8 / 125 16 / 125 53 / 125 81 / 125 122 / 123 123 / 123 123 / 123 % explants with embryos 0 0 0 6 . 5 % 12 . 8 % 42 . 4 % 64 . 8 % 99 . 2 % 100 % 100 % katahdin # explants with embryos 0 0 1 / 147 116 / 147 125 / 147 128 / 147 134 / 147 134 / 147 134 / 147 134 / 147 % explants with embryos 0 0 . 7 % 78 . 9 % 85 % 87 % 91 . 2 % 91 . 2 % 91 . 2 % 91 . 2 % kennebec # explants with embryos 0 0 29 / 160 117 / 160 147 / 160 151 / 160 156 / 160 156 / 160 156 /&# 39 ; 60 156 / 160 % explants with embryos 0 0 18 . 1 % 73 . 1 % 91 . 8 % 94 . 3 % 97 . 5 % 97 . 5 % 97 . 5 % 97 . 5 % royal gold # explants with embryos 0 0 0 35763 17 / 30 18 / 30 24 / 30 24 / 30 24 / 30 24 / 30 % explants with embryos 0 0 0 36 . 7 56 . 7 60 % 80 % 80 % 80 % 80 % ruby gold # explants with embryos 0 0 0 0 1 / 32 3 / 32 3 / 32 3 / 32 3 / 32 3 / 32 % explants with embryos 0 0 0 0 3 . 1 % 9 . 4 % 9 . 4 % 9 . 4 % 9 . 4 % 9 . 4 % russet burbank # explants with embryos 0 0 0 4 / 72 36 / 72 61 / 72 69 / 72 72 / 72 72 / 72 72 / 72 % explants with embryos 0 0 0 5 . 4 % 50 % 84 . 7 % 95 . 8 % 100 % 100 % 100 % russet norkotah # explants with embryos 0 0 0 36 / 129 82 / 129 96 / 129 102 / 129 106 / 127 111 / 127 111 / 127 % explants with embryos 0 0 0 27 . 9 % 63 . 6 % 77 . 5 % 79 . 1 % 83 . 4 % 87 . 4 % 87 . 4 % saginaw gold # explants with embryos 0 0 0 8 / 115 56 / 115 98 / 115 98 / 113 100 / 113 102 / 113 102 / 113 % explants with embryos 0 0 0 6 . 9 % 48 . 7 % 85 . 2 % 86 . 7 % 88 . 5 % 90 . 2 % 90 . 2 % shepody # explants with embryos 0 0 0 2 / 120 2 / 120 6 / 120 6 / 120 8 / 120 8 / 120 11 / 120 % explants with embryos 0 0 0 1 . 7 % 1 . 7 % 5 % 5 % 6 . 7 % 6 . 7 % 9 . 2 % superior # explants with embryos 0 0 18 / 121 102 / 121 121 / 121 121 / 121 121 / 121 121 / 121 121 / 121 121 / 121 % explants with embryos 0 0 14 . 9 % 84 . 3 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % temagami # explants with embryos 0 0 0 0 0 2 / 30 2 / 30 2 / 30 35518 35579 % explants with embryos 0 0 0 0 0 6 . 7 % 6 . 7 % 6 . 7 % 10 % 16 . 7 % yukon gold # explants with embryos 0 0 18 / 114 34 / 114 44 / 114 57 / 114 58 / 114 58 / 114 58 / 114 58 / 114 % explants with embryos 0 0 15 . 8 % 29 . 8 % 38 . 6 % 50 % 50 . 9 % 50 . 9 % 50 . 9 % 50 . 9 % __________________________________________________________________________ potato clones vary in the time to produce somatic embryos ( table 3 ). the cultivars which readily form somatic embryos in culture ; ac novachip , atlantic , brador , desiree , f80054 , kennebec , russet norkotah , russet burbank , saginaw gold and superior ( table 3 ), generally produce somatic embryos on all of the explants in 3 - 4 weeks on medium # 3 . notable exceptions were ruby gold and temagami . ruby gold may require about 5 weeks to produce one or more explants out of forming somatic embryos . temagami may require about six weeks to produce one or explants out of forming somatic embryos . the mean number of somatic embryos produced per explant also may be under genotypic control . the rankings for the cultivars tested are expressed as mean number of somatic embryos per explant : f83065 ( 45 ), desiree ( 36 ), russet burbank ( 28 ), f80054 ( 25 ), brador ( 23 ), royal gold ( 17 ), atlantic ( 16 ), katahdin ( 14 ), ac novachip ( 14 ), superior ( 11 ), russet norkotah ( 11 ), kennebec ( 10 ), saginaw gold ( 9 ), caribe ( 7 ), temagami ( 4 ), ruby gold ( 3 ), and yukon gold ( 2 ) ( table 2 ). the length of time to form somatic embryos in vitro and the number of embryos produced per explant appears to be partly determined by the vigour of the stock plantlets from which the explant tissues are excised . without wishing to be bound by theory , a component of plantlet vigour may be the length of time since the last transfer to fresh medium and possibly the environmental regime in the tissue culture growth facility . changes in the photoperiod , light quality , light intensity , or temperature regime may have effects on plantlet vigour . somatic embryos have been formed on the following tissues cultured in vitro , stem internode explants , leaf blade tissue , roots and microtuber slices . secondary embryos do not readily form in cultures of potato . somatic embryos have been observed forming at the base of germinating embryos , at various stages of development . a scanning electron microscope study of the embryo forming cultures revealed that this was fairly uncommon ( fig1 a to fig1 f ). potato somatic embryos at the torpedo , late torpedo and germination stages of development were re - cultured using the standard somatic embryogenesis protocol above . some regeneration of new somatic embryos occurred at the basipetal end ( root ) of the re - cultured somatic embryos after nodular callus formation . stem internode sections from germinating somatic embryos also have regenerated new somatic embryos . however , this process requires longer periods of time , for example , new somatic embryos have been observed after seven weeks of culture , compared with three to five weeks typically noted for somatic embryos production formed from cultured potato plantlet stem internode explants . upon transfer to medium # 3 , the stem internode explants are generally placed in the nutrient medium in a horizontal position , however , other positions may also be feasible . in this orientation the distal ( the stem end away from the shot apex ) end has been found to form more nodular callus than the proximal the stem surface closest to the shoot apex end of the stem explant . somatic embryos have also been found to form on very thin slices of stem internode tissues , for example from about 0 . 05 mm to about 10 mm . the orientation of the explant , that is whether the distal or proximal end of stem piece is in the medium , affects productivity of somatic embryos from stem pieces . an embling , is defined herein as a small plantlet grown from a somatic embryo . frequently the early growth habit of an embling resembles that of a seedling . somatic embryos produced using the method of this invention are easily dissected from the explant tissue using any suitable means as would be evident to one of skill in the art . they are placed on medium # 1 ( described above ) and germinated . the resulting embling resembles seedlings obtained from true seeds . for potato , emblings have a slightly viney habit , with thin stems and small leaves . embryos at the early torpedo stage take about 2 to 4 weeks to become fully established emblings . the conversion of torpedo - shaped somatic embryos to emblings is easily accomplished , and no discernible alteration in growth of the plantlets is observed . apical dominance is apparent in many of the cultures . frequently , clusters of proembryos , globular and heart - shaped embryos form at the base of a germinating somatic embryo . germinating somatic embryos from potato cultivars atlantic , kennebec , russet burbank , russet norkotah , and superior were excised and transferred to medium # 1 , containing no growth regulators . after 2 - 3 weeks , the emblings were acclimatized to greenhouse conditions and grown as greenhouse plants . these greenhouse plants were observed for differences in plant habit and morphology compared to sewed - grown plants . minitubers ( greenhouse tubers ) were harvested and assessed for trueness - to - type . off - types have been reported from tissue culture regimes of potato ( harding , 1994 , 1995 ). similarly , some potato cultivars exhibited off - types as well . furthermore , some cultivars displayed more off - types than others . of the cultivars that displayed off - types , approximately 10 to 20 percent of the greenhouse plants exhibited this morphology . generally , if the greenhouse plant showed aberrations , the minitubers harvested from that plant were also off - type . the presence of off - types appears to be influenced by genotype . somatic embryos have been produced using juvenile tissue such as seedling hypocotyl or basal area of tomato requiring a 6 week protocol ( gill et al ., 1995 ). however , somatic embryos have not been produced using other tissues . using the method of this invention , somatic embryos have been produced on tomato using mature stem internode tissue . the method used involved medium # 2 with thidiazuron only for 1 week , followed by medium # 3 with zeatin , indole acetic acid and gibberellic acid for 4 weeks . somatic embryos are observed within a 4 week period . all three genotypes tested ( big beef , cheyenne , and viva italia ) produce somatic embryos on stem internode tissues . some genotypic differences in reaction to the tissue culture protocol are observed . generally more callus formation is observed on tomato tissues compared with potato . the following table ( table 4 ) outlines the differences in method described herein with the prior art method of gill et al . ( 1995 ). table 4______________________________________comparison of the method of this invention with the prior artfor the production of somatic embryos oftomato lycopersicon esculentum l . in vitro method of this invention gill et al . ( 1995 ) ______________________________________cultivars regenerated big beef , cheyene , campbell 1327vf , viva italia crimsonvee vf , glamour , mh 6208 , red robbin , scocet million , sweet millionexplant cultured tissue culture intact seeding , hypocotyl plantlet , stem or basal area internodegenotypic difference yes yesin response toculture conditionstissue culture protocol two step somatic one step protocol with ms embryogenesis medium + bap protocol * time to produce from 4 to 6 weeks 6 weeksenvironmental 16 hour photoperiodprotocol______________________________________ * medium # 2 with thidiazuron only 1 week medium # 3 with zeatin , indole acetic acid and gibberellic acid 4 weeks somatic embryogenesis of lettuce has been reported by zhou et al . ( 1992 ) using seedling cotyledons in vitro . the disadvantage of this technique is that there is considerable variability ( heterosis ) in the morphology of the propagated material , and such variability is not commercially acceptable in lettuce . therefore , material propagated from seedling tissues is of uncertain advantage commercially . a clonal propagation technology for lettuce is of great interest to the lettuce industry because currently growers have to rogue out off - types which are not commercially acceptable , and this can be a considerable portion of the crop . furthermore , lettuce somatic embryos lend themselves to synthetic seed technology and fluid drilling of the synseeds for a clonally propagated crop which reduced the need for field roguing . the method of this invention produced somatic embryos using mature lettuce tissues obtained from stem internode , mature leaves , or axllary buds . the method employed using maintaining the tissue of medium # 1 for 1 week , followed by medium # 2c ( i - e . containing bap and iaa ) for two weeks . following this protocol , somatic embryos are observed withiin 3 weeks , compared to 7 weeks with the prior art protocol . a comparison of the method of this invention with that of zhou et al . ( 1992 ) is outlined in table 5 . table 5______________________________________comparison of the method of this invention with that ofthe prior art , for the production of somatic embryos of lettuce ( lactuca sativa l .) in vitro method of this invention zhou et al . ( 1992 ) ______________________________________cultivars butter crunch , grand lettuce - no cultivarregenerated rapids , red sails name providedexplantseedling ( 10 day old ) seedling cotyledonscultured stem internode and leaves in vitro in vitroexcised axillary buds from mature , greenhouse - grown ` red sails plant . bud established in vitro ; leaves ( occasionally stem internode ) of cultured plantlet used as explants . genotypic some genotypic differences not stated . differences in reaction to media observed , although all cvs . tested produced somatic embryos . tissue culture two step somatic callus induction inprotocol embryogenesis protocol *. dark ( 4 weeks ), transfer 16 hour photoperiod to light on same medium for 3 weeks for somatic embryos to form . ms salts , bap & amp ; naatime to produce three weeks seven weekssomatic embryos______________________________________ * medium # 1 for 1 week , followed by 2 weeks on medium # 2c . the present invention has been described with regard to preferred embodiments . however , it will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that a number of variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as described herein . bajaj , y . p . s . 1995a . somatic embryogenesis and its applications for crop improvement . chapter ii1 . 1 . in : biotechnology in agriculture and forestry . 30 . somatic embryogenesis and synthetic seed . i . 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