Embryo Rescue

ryo Embryo Rescue is the form of in-vitro culture techniques that is used to assist in the development of plant embryos that might not survive to become viable plants. Embryo rescue plays an important role in modern plant breeding, allowing the development of many interspecific and intergeneric food and ornamental plant crop hybrids. This technique nurtures the immature or weak embryo, thus allowing it the chance to survive. Plant embryos are multicellular structures that have the potential to develop into a new plant. The most widely used embryo rescue procedure is referred to as embryo culture, and involves excising plant embryos and placing them onto media culture.[2] Embryo rescue is most often used to create interspecific and intergeneric crosses that would normally produce seeds which are aborted. Interspecific incompatibility in plants can occur for many reasons, but most often embryo abortion occurs[3] In plant breeding, wide hybridization crosses can result in small shrunken seeds which indicate that fertilization has occurred, however the seed fails to develop. Many times, remote hybridizations will fail to undergo normal sexual reproduction, thus embryo rescue can assist in circumventing this problem.[4]

APPLICATIONS

* Breeding of incompatible interspecific and intergeneric species

* Overcoming seed dormancy

* Determination of seed viability

* Recovery of maternal haploids that develop as a result of chromosome elimination following interspecific hybridization

* Used in studies on the physiology of seed germination and development

Techniques

Depending on the organ cultured, it may be referred to as either embryo, ovule, or ovary culture. Ovule culture or in ovolo embryo culture is a modified technique of embryo rescue whereby embryos are cultured while still inside their ovules to prevent damaging them during the excision process.[8] Ovary or pod culture, on the other hand employs the use of an entire ovary into culture. It becomes...