Pinus halepensissomatic embryogenesis is affected by the physical and chemical conditions at the initial stages of the process

Short communication: The effect of changing temperature and agar concentration at proliferation stage in the final success of Aleppo pine somatic embryogenesis

“…Neither the temperature nor the interaction between the temperature and the agar concentration were statistically significant. These results are in agreement with previous studies on initiation stage (Pereira et al, 2016) where only significant differences were found for agar concentration.…”

“…Our results are in agreement with results obtained by Kvaalen & Johnsen (2008) in Picea abies, and opposite to findings reported by García-Mendiguren et al (2016) in P. radiata where they did not find differences among proliferation treatments for somatic embryo production. Furthermore, different environmental conditions at initiation stage of P. halepensis SE, did not lead to significant differences in the number of somatic embryos obtained (Pereira et al, 2016). So, for this species, it appears that different environmental conditions have a greater influence when applied during proliferation than during initiation.…”

“…2, EMs were subjected to maturation. Maturation and germination were carried out according to Pereira et al (2016). At maturation, four replicates per ten ECLs and nine proliferation treatments (a total of 360 Petri dishes) were performed.…”

“…In this sense, in our laboratory García-Mendiguren et al (2016) described in Pinus radiata (D. Don) that different temperatures and water availability conditions at initiation affected subsequent phases of SE; however, this effect on subsequent phases of the process disappeared when different environmental conditions were applied at proliferation. Then, Pereira et al (2016) found out that different environmental conditions at initiation did not influence maturation and germination phases in P. halepensis. Taking all this information into account, our aim was to analyze the effect of physical and chemical conditions at proliferation stage of P. halepensis SE on the final success of the process including the obtention of somatic plants.…”

Temperature and Water Availability During Maturation Affect the Cytokinins and Auxins Profile of Radiata Pine Somatic Embryos

“…It is clear that the water availability registered in our experiments is not sub-optimal for the maturation of EMs. In our laboratory, the effect of different physical and chemical conditions at the initiation stage of P. radiata and P. halepensis (García-Mendiguren et al, 2016; Pereira et al, 2016) as well as in proliferation stage of P. halepensis (Pereira et al, 2017) was studied and we found that the highest temperature seemed to produce a selective pressure as pointed by Fehér (2015); In this regard, Bonga et al (2010) suggested that reducing or increasing temperatures may improve initiation and proliferation since temperature stress may promote cellular reprogramming. Our results are in agreement with de Almeida et al (2014) where temperature had a significant influence on the direct SE capacity in coffee.…”