Abstract
The influence of growth regulators and cultivar on callus and embryo induction was studied in anther cultures of asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.). The concentration of different growth regulators stimulated significantly the amount of callus produced. The highest callus induction rate of 58.8% was obtained on Murashige and Skoog (1962) basal medium (MS) supplemented with 3% sucrose and 0.5 mg L-1 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 6-benzyladenine (BA) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) for the cultivar Hannibal. The MS medium supplemented with 3% sucrose, 1.0 mg L-1 2,4-D, 0.1 mg L-1 BA and 0.5 mg L-1 NAA produced the highest rate of embryogenic calli, total number of plantlets; and number of plantlets per callus. Asparagus cultivars cultivated on the same induction medium reacted differently: statistically significant genotypic differences were found for callus induction, number of embryogenic calli and number of embryos per callus. The cultivar Hannibal showed the highest rate of callus induction and embryogenic callus. In comparison, the cultivar Ariane yielded the highest number of embryos per callus.