The production of doubled haploid (DH) barley plants through anther culture is a very useful yet simple in vitro technique. DH plants derive from divisions of haploid microspores that have undergone a developmental switch under the appropriate conditions. The successive divisions lead to the formation of an embryo or callus rather than the formation of mature pollen grains. Plants that regenerate from these embryos are often either haploid, in which case their chromosome set can be doubled by treatment with colchicine, or spontaneous double haploids. The efficiency of DH plant production is highly variable depending on the genotype of the source material. Despite this limitation, DH plants have been widely used in breeding and research programs. Compared to conventional approaches, breeding strategies that makes use of DH plants achieve a homozygous state, allowing transgene or mutation stabilization in the genome, within a considerably shorter time, thus accelerating workflow or reducing work volume.
Keywords: Androgenesis; Anther culture; Barley (Hordeum vulgare); Doubled haploid.