Effects of BAP, Kin and NH4NO3 concentration on the eggplant anther culture (Solanum melongena L.)

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is one of the most important vegetable plants in Solanaceae family. In this research, androgenesis by anther culture has investigated in two eggplant cultivars including Chantal and Valentina. For this reason the effects of the BAP (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 mg l-1), Kin (4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5 and 7 mg l-1) and NH4NO3 (0, 1238, 1547.5, 1857, 2166.5 and 2476 mg l-1) concentrations were investigated in the independent experiments. These experiments were performed according to a factorial experiment in a randomized complete blocks design (RCBD) layout with three replications and each replication contained a unique Petri dish containing 9 ml C medium with 12 anthers. The results of analysis of variance showed a significant interaction between the cultivars and treatments. The highest plant regeneration in cultivar Chantal was obtained by the use of 6 mg l-1Kin and 4 mg l-1 BAP (27.7 and 25 %, respectively). The highest plant regeneration in cultivar Valentina was produced by the treatments containing 7 mg l-1 Kin and 5 mg l-1 BAP (27.8 and 19.6 %, respectively). Also results indicated that the increased concentrations of NH4NO3 has improved the anther culture efficiency in eggplant. In cultivars Chantale and Valentina 31 and 13 plants were obtained, respectively. Then 10 plants were randomly selected in each cultivar, and their ploidy levels were determined through flow cytometry. The results showed that in cultivars Chantale and Valentina, 40 and 50% of the plants were haploid, respectively.