Cytoplasmic modification by anther culture in Nicotiana tabacum L.

Abstract

Anther-derived doubled haploid lines were obtained from a line of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) that carried a mutant for temperature sensitivity on a cytoplasmic organelle. An evaluation of 368 dihaploid lines revealed that two survived 13°C day/8°C night temperatures and 366 died at those temperatures at the same rate as the temperature-sensitive parent. Crosses of the two surviving dihaploids with the temperature-sensitive parent and wild-type tobacco indicated that these two dihaploids had changes in genetic factors in the organelle during anther culture. This suggests that in addition to previously reported nuclear changes accompanying anther culture, haploid production, and chromosome doubling, changes also are induced in cytoplasmic genomes.