Abstract
Twelve somaclones and the donor plant, male sterile alfalfa MSXC77-1, were compared for the pollen number, seed set and germination of hybrid seeds. For the pollen grain number, eleven out of twelve clones did not show significant differences from the donor plant. A cione which showed a significant difference in the pollen number produced fewer pollen grains on average than the donor throughout three trials. Six clones did not set seeds in selfing, and the donor and remaining six clones set less than 0.01 seed per flower. Seed set per flower in crossing with a male fertile genotype CUFIO1-56 exceeded 2.5 and no significant differences between the donor and somaclones were detected. Germination percentages of hybrid seeds between MSx C77-1 and CUF1O1-56 exceeded 900/0 in both the donor and somaclones after breaking treatment of hard seed. These results indicate that the variation in the somaclones was negligible and could be ignored for these charactcristics, and that tissue culture techniques can be practically applied to the clonal propagation of male sterile alfalfa.
