Effects of pigment glands and gossypol on somatic cell culture of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

The effects of pigment glands and gossypol on the somatic cell culture of upland cotton were studied, using the materials as follows: three pairs of glanded and glandless upland cotton near isogenic lines, TM-1, and Coker 312. The results showed that the pigment glands and gossypol contents in the explants had great inhibiting effect on the induction and growth of callus in somatic cell culture of upland cotton, and the induction rate of callus and the single callus weight of glandless cotton were much higher than those of their glanded near isogenic lines. It was easier to obtain regeneration plants from glandless cotton than from their glanded near isogenic lines. There was a significant inverse correlation between the gossypol contents in the explants and callus induction rate, with the correlation coefficient of -0.84. The vitro gossypol in the medium had some inhibiting effect on the induction and growth of callus, especially for the glandless cotton. However, a certain concentration of vitro gossypol in the medium (0.1 mg/L) was an aid to the steadiness growth of callus in glandless cotton somatic cell culture, with a high rate of embryogenic cells which was in favor of plant regeneration, and it was also relatively easy to obtain regeneration plants when they were transferred into differentiation medium with 0.1 mg/L of vitro gossypol, even for some cultivars which are difficult in somatic cell culture. In addition, the gossypol content and its variation in the seedlings and callus during culture of Coker 312 were discussed, as well as the relationship between gossypol variation in the explants and its somatic cell culture. The probability of vitro gossypol used in cotton somatic cell culture for the improvement of somatic cell culture was suggested.