Efficient regeneration of fertile barley plants from callus cultures of several Nordic cultivars.

The regeneration potential of three major Estonian barley cultivars was tested and compared to that of the Finnish cultivar Kymppi. Two different regeneration systems were used. The first was characterized by the high maltose concentration (60 g l(-1)) and by the use of 2,4D together with two different combinations of amino acids in the callus induction medium followed by the regeneration medium containing BAP (2 mg l(-1)) and 2,4D (0.2 mg l(-1)). The second exploited callus induction medium that contained Dicamba, lower concentrations of maltose (30 g l(-1)) and higher concentrations of myo-inositol and thiamine and different set of amino acids and regeneration medium that contained higher concentrations of Cu2+ and inorganic nitrogen accompanied by lower concentrations of NH4+ and BAP, when compared to the first regeneration system. The second regeneration system used produced significantly higher rates of callus induction, callus growth and regeneration of plantlets. However, it yielded also many albino plants (up to 51%), whereas the first regeneration system used did not produce practically any albino plants. No major genotype-dependent differences were observed in comparison between two regeneration systems - in both systems higher regeneration potential of Anni, Elo and Kymppi contradicted to the low regeneration potential of Teele. It is concluded that the continuous somatic embryogenesis on the regeneration medium allows the regeneration of many plants from the same callus over long periods of time and makes available highly efficient regeneration protocols for Estonian and Finnish barley cultivars.