Influence of Copper Sulphate on Anther Culture for Haploid Production in African Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.)

The present study was carried out to improve the yield of androgenesis in marigold, for which copper sulfate was tested during the pretreatment of anther culture at various concentrations. The best results were obtained when copper sulfate was added at 15 µM and 20 µM. With the addition of copper sulphate at 20 µM, the percent of responding anthers increased from 81.6 to 92.2 %. While. percent caulogenesis increased from 66.8 to 78.4 % with copper sulphate concentration of 15 µM. With the same concentration of copper sulphate (15 µM), the number of shoot buds per anther increased from 7.4 to 9.6 and the number of regenerants per anther increased from 5.8 to 8.6. The positive influence of copper sulphate may be due to an increase in the microspore survival during anther culture.