Prospects of isolated microspore culture for haploid production in Anemone coronaria L.

The aim of this study was to establish a procedure to obtain haploid plants from microspore cultures of Anemone coronaria L., an important ornamental crop known worldwide due to its commercial value in the cut flower industry. Microspores were isolated from two genotypes of A. coronaria: ‘Blue’ (plants obtained through one cycle of selfing) and ‘Lilac’. The effect of different treatments to interrupt the gametophytic development of microspores and promote sporophytic development was evaluated. High temperature, culture media composition and developmental stage of microspores at the moment of isolation were the assessed factors. Achieved microspore-derived embryo formation was 0.53% for ‘Blue’ and 0.06% for ‘Lilac’. Different treatments were tested for microspore-derived embryo germination. Organic supplements had a positive effect on triggering germination, while growth regulators were needed to complete the development of the plantlets. Germination percentage was 2.13 and 2.41 for ‘Blue’ and ‘Lilac’, respectively. The ploidy analysis revealed the existence of haploid and doubled haploid plants of both genotypes. We identified 18 haploid plants and 9 doubled haploid plants of ‘Blue’, and 4 haploid plants and 3 doubled haploid plants of ‘Lilac’.