Interaction of Callus of Pure Lines and Hybrids of Maize in Co-Culture

Abstract

The study of heterosis in maize is of great theoretical and practical importance. The elaboration of new approaches and methods of evaluation of combining ability of crossed plant forms is important for the selection of high heterotic Hybrids. It is supposed that in this connection, the use of the tissue culture method may be highly promising. The work on the compatibility of callus tissues of pea with different genotype testifies to this fact (Akhmetov and Buligina 1979), where the dependence of growth in hybrid callus tissues on the genotype of initial (parental) forms was shown. Callus tissues of high heterotic Hybrids are found to grow more actively. The growth of pieces of callus tissue of different expiants in close contact with one another leads to their merging. In some papers (Scaramuzzi and Gaetano 1979), such “contact” growing of callus from leguminous plants are shown to result in the formation of “cohesions” in the place of the contact of callus tissues from different expiants. In these “cohesions”, mutual penetration of cellular components and vascular elements is observed.