The Culture of Immature Pea Embryos

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Abstract
Pea embryos of a range of developmental stages were cultured in a defined medium in vitro for up to 16 days. The critical factor for successful culture was the osmotic pressure of the medium; for the stages studied this was provided by the incorporation of 18 per cent sucrose in the medium. The growth of embryos of a range of genotypes was compared; small seeded genotypes could grow at comparable rates in vitro to those attained in vivo. The amount of protein synthesized in vitro was similar to that attained in vivo, whereas slightly higher and lower levels of starch and DNA respectively were attained in vitro. The roles of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in regulating embryo growth were studied by comparing the growth in culture of embryos of different genotypes and of hybrid embryos derived from reciprocal crosses.