Hormonal requirement and tissue competency for shoot organogenesis in two cultivars of Brassica napus

An investigation of the regeneration ability of explants taken from the floral stem of Brassica napus var. oleifera was performed in the winter cultivars Darmor and Bienvenu. Our purpose was to compare the regeneration ability of the two genotypes, to compare the competence of the different tissues of the stem and then to study histologically the regeneration of shoots. A strong genotypic effect was observed between the two cvs; Bienvenu had a poorer ability to produce shoots when cultured in the presence of benzyladenine: regeneration commenced later; the percentage of explants producing shoots and the number of shoots per regenerating explant were much lower. The comparison between the regeneration ability of different explants, i.e stem segments, internal stem segments, thin cell layer and peels, showed that the superficial tissues were able to regenerate roots but not shoots. Contrariwise, internal stem segments regenerated only shoots. The origin of shoots was investigated in stem segments of cv. Darmor. A kinetic histological analysis showed the basic role played by phloem and phloem‐associated cells in shoot formation.