[Culture of soybean somatic embryo line and stability of microsatellite DNA]

We cultured soybean immature cotyledons to induce somatic embryos and set up soybean somatic embryo lines by culturing the induced somatic embryos in liquid medium on shaker. Regenerated plants of normal fertility were easily obtained with the cultures of various ages by culturing the somatic embryos on differentiation media. DNAs were isolated from the embryogenic cultures after 5, 9, 15 or 17 months' suspension and from 42 plants regenerated from somatic embryos of various culturing ages. 102 SSR markers covering soybean genome almost evenly were chosen to check variation of microsatellite DNA during suspension culture and differentiation. Among the eight DNA samples of soybean somatic embryos of various ages and 42 DNA samples of regenerated plants, there was no any variation of the major bands of the 102 SSR markers during one year's subculturing and differentiation. There were only six weaker subsidiary bands of five SSR markers among the 102 SSR markers added in four of the fifty DNA samples. Two of them happened to the same regenerated plant differentiated from the 9-month embryogenic cultures. Three happened to the two DNA samples from somatic embryos irregular in morphology of the 5-month embryogenic cultures. The last subsidiary band variation happened to a DNA sample of the 17-month embryogenic cultures. The results show that stable microsatellites were maintained during the suspension culture and differentiation while we made the cultures highly embryogenic potential and easy to regenerate.