Somatic Embryogenesis in Carrot Cell Suspension

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Abstract
The role of macromolecule synthesis during the early hours of undifferentiated growth of carrot cell suspension in a medium containing the synthetic auxin, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and during embryogenic growth in an auxin-free medium was investigated. For each set of cultures, total protein and RNA, rate of protein synthesis, changes in ATP pool, and rate of RNA synthesis were determined. Although no changes in protein and RNA contents of cells were noted during the first 48 h of their growth in fresh media, the rate of protein synthesis in the embryogenic cells markedly increased over that of the non-embryogenic cells as early as 2 h. ATP pool size in both types of cells stabilized within 1 h and it registered only a slight decrease over a 24 h period. Rate of RNA synthesis increased in the embryogenic cells from 4 to 12 h following their transfer to fresh medium, after which it decreased. Transfer of carrot cells of zero embryogenic potential to an auxin-free medium did not however elicit the macromolecule synthetic pattern characteristic of the highly embryogenic cells.