title: Temperature controls both gametophytic and sporophytic development in microspore cultures of Brassica napus.
abstract: Temperature controls the developmental fate of isolated Brassica napus microspores in vitro. Culture at 32.5°C leads to sporophytic development and the formation of embryos. Here we show that culture at 17.5°C leads to gametophytic development, and the formation of pollen-like structures at high frequencies (up to 80% after 7 days in culture). Early stages of both developmental pathways are observed in culture at 25.0°C, and embryos are produced at low frequencies (0.7%) at that temperature. Culturing B. napus microspores at 32.5°C versus 17.5°C brings the switch from gametophytic to sporophytic development under simple experimental control and provides a convenient tool for investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling this developmental switch.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Biology, Centre for Plant Breeding and Reproduction Research (CPRO-DLO), P.O. Box 16, 6700, AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Custers
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cordewener
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nöllen
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Dons
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Van Lockeren Campagne