Improved Growth of Tissue Cultures of the Onion, <i>Allium cepa</i>

Abstract

Abstract A forty‐fold increase in tissue fresh weight has been achieved for Allium cepa stem tissue callus grown on a modified B5 medium with increased ammonium, phosphate and nitrogen levels; and decreased level of 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Growth was examined on several standard media, using fresh weight, dry weight and cell number as parameters over an 8‐week growth period. Further, tissue grown upon this medium is more friable than on other media. The value of such friable callus for suspension culture initiation and for single cell cloning experiments is discussed.