Regeneration of Plants from EMS-treated Immature Embryo Cultures in Soybean [Glycine max(L.) Merr.]

Since somatic embryogenesis combined with ethylmethane sulfonate(EMS) treatments is the most efficient technique for mutagenesis, the embryogenic capacity of four soybean cultivars was evaluated at different EMS concentrations, treatment times, and preculture durations. Two to 4 mm long immature cotyledons were placed in induction medium after EMS treatment, and the numbers of somatic embryos formed per explant were counted four weeks after culture initiation. We observed genotypic differences in the efficiency of somatic embryogenesis from immature embryos among four cultivars treated with different concentrations of EMS for six hours. Cultivars, Sinpaldalkong 2 and Jack, displayed highly efficient somatic embryogenesis regardless of EMS concentration, whereas very low efficiency or no survival was observed in Jinju 1 and Iksannamulkong cultivars. Preculture duration did not influence the efficiency of somatic embryogenesis. Because Sinpaldalkong 2 exhibited the best somatic embryogenesis, much higher concentrations of EMS were used to test somatic embryo formation under different periods of time in this cultivar. Three and six hour treatments with both 1 and 2 mM EMS yielded higher embryo formation than longer periods of time. Increasing the time with embryos in 2 mM EMS caused a reduction in somatic embryogenesis in Sinpaldalkong 2, but many chlorophyll-deficient soybean variants were identified in the $M_1R_0$ and $M_2R_1$ generations. In addition to Jack, Sinpaldalkong 2 is a good genotype for plant regeneration from EMS-treated immature embryo cultures.