Culture of Detached Ears of Wheat in Liquid Culture: Modification and Extension of the Method

Abstract

The method of culturing detached ears of wheat in a liquid medium has been modified to provide for the culture of ears from anthesis to maturity. For prolonged culture of ears, the presence of the peduncular node was beneficial. Grains developing in ears cultured from 2 days after anthesis until they had ripened germinated normally. By comparison with ammonium or nitrate, glutamine was the better source of nitrogen particularly at low levels of sucrose in the medium; inorganic forms of nitrogen inhibited grain-filling. Setting of grains was apparently dependent upon the availability of carbohydrate and there was no evidence from treatments involving shading for a photomorphogenetic response to reduced light intensity. While grain-filling was sustained by the provision of sucrose supplied artificially, light did nevertheless affect the accumulation of dry matter in the grains.