Plant regeneration from immature inflorescence of zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.)

Abstract

Zoysiagrass displays good adaptability to its environment, and is utilized for golf courses and athletic fields. Immature inflorescences were obtained from 5 varieties of zoysiagrass, ‘Miyako’, ‘Misato’, ‘Meyer’, ‘Yamato’ and ‘B14’. However, regenerated plants were only obtained in ‘Miyako’. A relationship between the size of the inoculated inflorescences and the callus induction frequency was observed. A high frequency of callus formation was shown in earlier developmental stages shorter than 20 mm in the length of inflorescences in ‘Miyako’. Plant regeneration was observed efficiently when the compact calli, which were formed in the callus induction medium (Linsmaier and Skoog 4 mg l⁻¹ thiamine–HCl, 100 mg l⁻¹ α-ketoglutaric acid, 2 mg l⁻¹ 2,4-D, 0.1 mg l⁻¹ BA, 3% sucrose, 0.2% gelrite), were transferred to the regeneration medium (Linsmaier and Skoog 1 mg l⁻¹ BA, 3% maltose, 0.5% gelrite ) in ‘Miyako’.