Biotechnological Improvement in Timothy Breeding

Biotechnological improvements in timothy breeding by androgenic and somatic cell culture and molecular identification were achieved. The doubled haploid (DH) plants were obtained via anther and microspore culture. A series of factors which affect androgenic embryogenesis and green plant regeneration have been evaluated. The PG-96 induction media which sharply promote androgenic embryogenesis have been established. Over 400 DH plants of timothy were obtained. Timothy somatic callus induction was successfully established using immature inflorescences and seedling stems. Suspension cultures were initiated from friable nodule-forming callus. More than 100 regenerated green plants were obtained from somatic callus and suspension clumps. DNA-based fingerprinting technologies such as RAPD, AFLP and SSR will be used in molecular identification. Appropriate primers and PCR conditions have been tested. The electrophoresis gel showed that the PCR products were informative and polymorphic. The result demonstrates that methodology based on random-primed DNA amplification can be used for timothy identification