Durum Wheat Anther Culture: a Complete Protocol

Durum wheat is one of the most recalcitrant species among cereals for anther culture, and is characterized by a low embryogenesis rate and a high percentage of albinism (95%). This chapter describes key features of durum wheat anther culture protocol. This includes growing donor plants under the most appropriate conditions, selecting spikes with microspores at the mid- to late-uninucleate stage of development, establishing aseptic conditions for dissection, and culturing anthers in appropriate media and conditions. A modified W14 medium is described that performs well in durum wheat anther culture. The green plants produced are transplanted into pots under optimal temperature and light conditions. The low percentage of spontaneous chromosome doubling obtained makes the application of antimitotic agents necessary. The low number of fertile DH plants can be faced in the future by developing new protocols or more suitable media for durum wheat, by applying wide hybridization methods, or even more by using speed breeding to accelerate the production of doubled haploid plants.