Doubled haploid induction is one of the available methods normally used for sugar beet breeding. Gynogenic haploid explants of sugar beet induced with 1 or 2 mg L–1 6-benzylaminopurine were treated with 5 g L–1 colchicine, then subcultured on a solidified MS medium plus mg L–1 kinetin. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2018) 42: 280-288 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article The effects of proline on in vitro proliferation and propagation of doubled haploid sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) 1,2 1,2 2 3 1, Arman PAZUKI , Fatemeh AFLAKI , Songül GÜREL , Ali ERGÜL , Ekrem GÜREL * Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Abant İzzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey 2 Plant Breeding Department, Sugar Institute, Etimesgut, Ankara, Turkey 3 Biotechnology Institute, Ankara University, Tandoğan, Ankara, Turkey 1 Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: Doubled haploid induction is one of the available methods normally used for sugar beet breeding. Gynogenic haploid explants of sugar beet induced with 1 or 2 mg L–1 6-benzylaminopurine were treated with 5 g L–1 colchicine, then subcultured on a solidified MS medium plus mg L–1 kinetin. Colchicine doubled the chromosome number of of the treated haploid explants. With the aim of increasing the number of doubled haploid explants, the effects of five levels of proline (, , , , or mM) on the explants’ proliferation, propagation, and shoot length were compared. With a large effect size (ES), proline at mM induced the highest amount of proliferation, while proline-free medium resulted in the lowest amount of it. The highest propagation rates were observed for the explants treated on media with and mM proline (very large ES). Proline at mM induced the shortest shoots (medium ES). A very strong positive correlation between proliferation and propagation, a moderate negative correlation between proliferation and length, and a strong negative correlation between propagation and length were observed. For the first time our results show beneficial effects of proline on in vitro proliferation and propagation of sugar beet. Key words: Proline, propagation,
