ARTIFICIAL SEED; ENCAPSULATION OF PLANT SOMATIC EMBRYOS

ARTIFICIAL SEEDS PROVIDE A CLONAL SYSTEM TO PROPAGATE ELITE AND IMPROVED GERMPLASM OF SEED CORPS SUCH AS ALFALFA, WITH OUT THE PREREQUISITE OF MEIOTIC RECOMBINATION. ALTHOUGH CL CLONAL PROPAGATION HAS BEEN USED FOR VEGETATIVELY-PROPAGATEDCROPS FOR MILLENNIA, SUCH PROPAGATION HAS NOT BEEN AVAILABLEFOR SEED CROPS PRIOR TO THE DISCOVERY OF PLANT TISSUE C CULTURE TECHNIQUES. THE FIRST STEPS FOR CREATING ARTIFICIAL SEEDS (I.E., SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS AND EMBRYO ENCAPSULATION)HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED AT PLANT GENETICS, INC. THE PHASE I OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROPOSAL ARE TO RESOLVE THREE RESEARCH QUESTIONS USING THE ADVANCED ALFALFA SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS SYSTEM. 1. CAN THE GERMINATION FREQUENCY OF SOMATIC EMBRYOS BE I INCREASED TO APPROACH THAT OF TRUE SEEDS? 2. CAN THE CAPSULE MATRIX BE MODIFIED TO SERVE AS AN ART ARTIFICIAL ENDOSPERM? 3. CAN ENCAPSULATED SOMATIC EMBRYOS BE GERMINATED UNDER GREENHOUSES CONDITIONS? TO ACCOMPLISH THESE OBJECTIVES, SOMATIC EMBRYOS PRODUCED UN UNDER VARIOUS CONDITIONS WILL BE ANALYZED FOR SEED-SPECIFIC STORAGE PROTEINS TO ASSESS EMBRYO QUALITY. SECONDLY, VARIOUSCARBHYDRATES AND NUTRIENTS WILL BE IMCORPORATED INTO THE CAPCAPSULE MATRIX, EITHER UNIFORMLY MIXED IN THE MATRIX OR IN AN IMMOBILIZED STATE. THIRDLY, SUCCESS IN THE FIRST TWO OBJECTIVES SHOULD THEN ENABLE THE IMPROVED SOMATIC EMBRYO, ENCAPSULATED IN A RICH ARTIFICIAL ENDOSPERM, TO GERMINATE AND DEVELOP UNDER GREENHOUSE CONDITIONS.