Dr. Mehran Enayati Shariatpanahi, Associated Professor & Head of the Department of Tissue and Cell Culture of Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran participated in Plant Cells & Tissues in Vitro III in Vienna on 1-2 July 2019 to present his article entitled: Improvement of embryogenesis in anther versus shed microspore culture of rice (Oryza sativa L.). The main idea of the article is to introduce an applied protocol forandrogenesis system, reported as the preferred method of haploid induction/ DH production in many species such as rice. Both anther culture (AC) and shed microspore culture (SMC) were developed in three mutants and one Iranian cultivar of rice. The different concentrations of gum arabic (GA), as carrier of arabinogalactan proteins, were used as chemical enhancer. In AC, the highest number of induced embryos was obtained in MS medium supplemented with Kin + NAA + GA. The highest number of induced embryos in SMC experiment was obtained when above B5 liquid medium contained GA and lower B5 Agar-solidified medium contained activated charcoal. The efficiency of SMC was more than AC in term of number of induced embryos. The established protocols are applicable for development of doubled haploid mutant lines in mutation and selection breeding programs.

It should be noted that the 3rd International Conference on “Plant Cells & Tissues In Vitro” discussed wide range of modern in vitro plant cell and organ culture technologies, fundamental aspects of plant cell totipotency, differentiation, regeneration, embryogenesis, and practical applications of in vitro technologies for crop improvement. This two-days event provided leading academy and industry scientists a platform to communicate recent advances in “Plant Cells & Tissues In Vitro”, and an opportunity to establish multilateral collaboration.