Factors Influencing Somatic Embryo Maturation in Sugi (Japanese Cedar, Cryptomeria japonica (Thunb. ex L.f.) D. Don)

This paper presents the results of several experiments identifying basal salts (BS) contained in maturation medium, polyethylene glycol (PEG) concentration, abscisic acid (ABA) concentration, additional supplementation with potassium chloride (KCl), amino acid (AA) concentration, and proliferation culture medium (PCM) as the main culture factors affecting somatic embryo maturation in sugi (Japanese cedar, Cryptomeria japonica, Cupressaceae). Highly efficient embryo maturation was achieved when embryogenic cell lines (ECLs) were cultured on media supplemented with a combination of PEG, ABA, and AAs. More than 1000 embryos per gram of fresh weight (FW) can be produced on EM maturation medium supplemented with 175 g L(−1) PEG, 100 µM ABA, 2 g L(−1) glutamine, 1 g L(−1) asparagine, and 0.5 g L(−1) arginine.