Plant regeneration from protoplasts of wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.)

Embryogenic callus initiated from basal segments of micropropagated shoots of Oryza rufipogon were used to initiate cell suspension cultures. After approximately 3 months these cultures were capable of yielding large numbers of protoplasts which underwent sustained division in agarose-solidified medium at a frequency comparable to that observed with Japonica rice protoplasts in previous studies. O. rufipogon plants were reproducibly regenerated from the protoplast-derived callus and are currently being grown to maturity. This is the first report of plant regeneration from protoplasts of a wild species of Oryza.