Primary Somatic Embryos from Axillary Meristems and Immature Leaf Lobes of Selected African Cassava Varieties

The study evaluated high-value African cassava varieties for primary somatic embryogenesis using axillary meristems (AM) and immature leaf lobes (LL) on picloram-based medium. The study was conducted at the Central Biotech Lab, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria between 2006 and 2009. Completely randomized design with four replicates was used for the study. Using LL explants, there were significant (P=.05) differences in percent responding leaf lobes, percent explant with pre-embryogenic structure, PSEF and PSEE among cassava varieties. The PSEF of the only three varieties that produced mature somatic embryo were 93.6, 88.5 and 85.7% for TME 12, Kibaha and Albert, respectively. Similarly, significant (P=.05) differences existed among the varieties in percent enlarged axillary meristem, percent explant with pre-embryogenic structure, PSEF and PSEE when AM was the explant. The PSEFs of the only three varieties that produced mature somatic embryo were 83.6, 77.5 and 72.7% for TME 12, Kibaha and Albert, respectively. The PSEF and PSEE of LL explant were greater than those of AM by an average of 86.1% and 82.7%, respectively. The study concluded that both AM and LL were good explants for production of primary somatic embryo in cassava