Genetic control of somatic embryogenesis in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. cv. Adriana)

In alfalfa (Medicago sativa) regeneration is genotype-specific . In order to study the genetic control of somatic
embryogenesis and to constitute a synthetic cultivar characterized by its high regeneration ability, 2 embryogenic
plants selected from the cv . Adriana were selfed, intercrossed and also crossed in both directions with 5 nonembryogenic
genotypes of the same cultivar .
Progenies of all crosses were scored for their regeneration ability and results indicate that somatic embryogenesis
is under the control of 2 dominant loci . However some non-embryogenic genotypes prevent regeneration when
crossed with embryogenic ones and this characteristic is not under the control of a single dominant gene .
When plants chosen for their capacity to regenerate within Fl and S1 progenies were freely intercrossed the
regeneration efficiency dropped to 2% (1 plant out of 50) . This result indicates that if the genetic background of the
population is changed the regeneration is greatly affected and therefore some other mechanism could play a role in
determining plant regeneration .