Application of in vitro ovary culture for cottonwood (Populus deltoides) breeding

Five different poplar hybrids were tested for rescuing embryo to elongate in vitro plantiets after hybridization. Ovaries and ovules were cultured on Woody Plant Medium (WPM) supplemented with cytokinins, 6-benzylamine (BA) and zeatin. Multiple shoots were initiated from half section of capsule with immature embryos after 21 days from pollination and tiny shoots were formed after the expansion of cotyledons in ovule cultures. Germinating response was better in intraspecific hybrids $(6.53\pm1.66)$ than interspecific crosses $(0.93\pm0.54)$ from half section of capsules on WPM medium. In general, zeatin was better than BA in inducing multiple shoots from isolated ovules. The highest average number $(19.40\pm4.53)$ of shoots was produced from immature ovules of 21 days post-pollination of WPM medium supplemented with 5.0 mg/L zeatin. The highest percentage of germination was 93% from the half section of in vitro ovary cultures. Soil acclimation was successfully conducted in cell tray containing artificially mixed soil with 96% survival rate.