CYTOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF SOME VARIETIES AND F1 HYBRIDS OF RICE, ORYZA SATIVA, USING THE METHOD OF ANTHER CULTURE

Anthers of six Russian and Bulgarian varieties of rice, Oryza saliva, and their three F1 hybrids were investigated for callus formation and plant regeneration in two nutritional media. N6 medium is four times more effective in callus induction when compared to Murashige and Skoog's medium but the latter is better than the former for plant regeneration. Cytological investigation showed that 28% of regenerates were haploid, 67% diploids and 4% had chromosome number above 2n = 24. The average size of stomatic cleft is a constant character and should be used in determining the ploidy status. The study of pigment content and photosynthetic activity in 9 dihaploid lines obtained by anther culture of F1 hybrid of Belozem X Plovdiv-22 shows that the presence of transgressive forms may be used directly in rice breeding.