XVI International Botanical Congess

Egg cells and zygotes are deeply hidden in the maternal tissue, and normally not accessible for observation and experimentation. To understand plant development and the regeneration of single cell to plant, we have taken the approach to isolate egg cells and zygotes, and to culture in vitro isolated zygotes and in vitro produced zygotes, after fusion of isolated egg and sperm cells. Isolation and culture of wheat zygotes, few hours after pollination, has been developed too. Beside the in vitro culture, isolated zygotes can also be implantated in cultured ovules and be regenerated to plants. The method of egg cell isolation and production of in vitro produced zygotes of maize has been developed by E. Kranz. Recently, the work has been extended to the in vitro production of endosperm after fusion of sperm and central cells. The in vitro studies are supplemented by molecular studies. This work is aiming to isolate genes with specific activity in the gametes, during zygote development and early embryogenesis of maize.