Somaclonal variant plants of wheat derived from mature embryo explants of three genotypes

Somaclones regenerated from three wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars, Glennson, Pavon and PAK-16171 were evaluated for variation in agronomic and morphological characters. Calli were initiated from germinating seeds on Linsmaier and Skoog (LS) medium plus 2 mg/l 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2% sucrose and 1% agar. Calli were isolated and regenerated into whole plants on LS medium containing 0.1 mg/l indole - 3-acetic acid and 0.5 mg/l benzyladenine. Comparisons among the somaclones and their parents were made for plant height, spike length, number of grains per spike, and 100 grain weight. Significant variation was observed in these characters between the somaclones and parents. Genotypic differences were observed among the somaclones for many of these agronomic and morphological characters.