Patrick von Aderkas
Petch 016, University of Victoria
(250) 721-8926
pvonader@uvvm.uvic.ca
Producing cloned embryos from young isolated embryos
and cells of conifers provides an efficient alternative to micropropagation,
root cuttings and grafting of a number of commercial species. We have been
interested in white spruce (Picea glauca), hybrid larch (Larix
x leptoeuropaea), western larch (Larix occidentalis) and
European larch (Larix decidua). It also provides an opportunity to
study development of embryos in controlled conditions. Together with a number
of graduate students (Rungnapar Pattinavibool, Irene Hay, Sharon Pond) and
collaborators (Jan Bonga, Krystyna Klimaszewska, Marcus Gutmann, Marie-Anne
Lelu, Philippe Label, Rene Rohr,
Nigel Livingston) we have looked at a variety of aspects of physiology,
including water relations, phenolic compound production, effect of exogenous
hormone application, hormone profiles during development, as well as somatic
cell hybridization. Some of these approaches are complemented by ultrastructural
and light microscopic studies.
