INDUCTION OF SYMMETRICAL NUCLEUS DIVISION AND MULTI-NUCLEATE STRUCTURES IN MICROSPORES OF EGGPLANT (Solanum melongena L.) CULTURED IN VITRO

A modification of a protocol used to induce tobacco microspore embryogenesis was tested in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). In tobacco, uninucleate microspores are subjected to stress treatment by culturing in mannitol containing “B” medium at 33°C for six days. The microspores are then transferred to maltose containing AT3 medium for further development. In the experiment presented here late uninucleate and bi-nucleate microspores of the eggplant cultivar Bambino were pre-cultured in B medium and then incubated at +4°C, 25°C and 33°C, respectively, for two days. After the pre-treatments, microspore cultures were transferred to AT3 medium containing 0.25 M maltose and maintained at 25°C in the dark. Presence of symmetrical division and multinucleate structures was checked with DAPI staining of the nucleus after one and two weeks. Symmetrical division of the nucleus and multinucleate structures were observed only in uni-nucleate microspores pre-treated at 33°C for two days. The frequency of multinucleate structures was 19.4% under these conditions. We demonstrated that eggplant is responsive to the modified tobacco protocol in the production of symmetrically division and multinucleate structures. These results may be used as a basis for adaptation fully of the tobacco system in eggplant.