In Vitro Flowering System

In Vitro 시스템에 의한 화호형성

In vitro flowering system may minimize the confounded influence of non-floral meristem parts of plants in studying the relationship of a given treatment and flowering responses. We have induced flower buds from plantlets regenerated from zygotic embryo-derived somatic embryos of ginseng, which circumvented the normal 2-year juvenile period before flowering. The result suggests that the adulthood of ginseng root explants in the experiment previously conducted by Chang and Hsing (1980; Nature 284: 341-342) is not prerequired to flowering of plantlets regenerated through somatic embryogenesis. We have also induced flower buds from elongated axillary brandches from cotyledonary nodes by culturing ginseng zygotic embryos, seedlings, and excised cotyledonary nodes. It was found that 6-benzyladenine (BA) supplemented to the medium was essential for flowering, whereas abscisic acid (ABA) was inhibitory. Gibberellic acid(GA3) was also required for flowering when ABA was present with BA in the medium. The results suggest that cytokinins, gibberellins, and inhibitors play primary, permissive, and preventive roles, respective-ly, in the induction of flowering of ginseng. Tran Thanh Van (1980; Int. Rev. Cytol., Suppl. IIA: 175-194) has developed the "thin cell layer system" in which the induction of shoots, roots, or flower buds from epidermal layer explants were controlled by culture conditions and exogenous growth regulators in the medium, Utilizing the thin cell layer system, Meeks-Wagner et al. (1989; The Plant Cell 1: 25-35) have cloned genes specifically expressed during floral evocation. However, the system is too tedious for obtaining a sufficient amount of plant materials for biochmical and molecular biological studies of flowering. We have developed a garlic callus culture system and one obvious advantaging over the thin cell layer system is that an abundant cells committed to develope into flower buds proliferate. When the above cells were compared by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis with those which have just lost the competence for developing into flower buds, a few putative proteins specific to floral evocation were detected. The garlic callus culture system can be further explored for elucidation of the molecular biological mechanism of floral evocation and morphogenesis.hogenesis.