Direct somatic embryogenesis fromBegonia gracilis explants

Direct somatic embryogenesis ofBegonia gracilis was achieved from microcultured laminar segments and petioles on Murashige and Skoog medium with 0.5 mg 1^-1 kinetin and 2% coconut water. Somatic embryos were obtained with greater frequency from petiole explants than from leaf blade sections. Under red light (45 μmol m^-2 s^-1), approximately 80% of the petiole explants successfully produced somatic embryos but only 30% of the leaf blade sections responded. However, somatic embryos were significantly more abundant on responding lamina explants (60-70 embryos/leaf section) than on petioles (40-50 embryos/petiole). These trends were similar for explants kept in the dark, but overall production was lower. Somatic embryos were produced more quickly (5 weeks) from petioles than from lamina explants (8 weeks). The somatic embryos germinated to produce plantlets and subsequently shoot cultures with the same appearance as the parental clone.