Development, maturation and germination of horse chestnut somatic embryos

Somatic embryogenesis could represent a way to clonally propagate mature elite trees of horse chestnut. However, while a number of protocols describe successfully the induction and proliferation of somatic embryos a low frequency of embryos converted successfully into plants. The objective of this research was to identify a maturation medium that could contribute to the outcome of more efficient germination results. Therefore, in a first approach the effects of sucrose 3 and 6%, and maltose 3%, were evaluated on somatic embryo maturation, in terms of subsequent somatic embryo germination. Carbon source and concentration had a marked influence on maturation, and subsequent germination of horse chestnut somatic embryos, with sucrose 6% promoting the highest frequency of germinated embryos larger than 1 cm