EN
Embryogenic cell line AN 72 derived from immature hybrid fir Abies alba x A. numidica zygotic embryos was subjected to different maturation treatments. The effect of the carbohydrates sucrose, maltose and glucose (each at 3%, 6% and 9%) or PEG-4000 (5.0%, 7.5% and 10%) combined with different carbohydrate sources was tested. PEG-4000 stimulated somatic embryo maturation of hybrid fir. This stimulatory effect was dependent on the carbohydrate source used. Culture medium with maltose as carbohydrate source combined with PEG-4000 produced the highest number of cotyledonary somatic embryos. Carbohydrates supplied alone (mainly at 6% and 9%) exerted an unfavorable effect, increasing the frequency of abnormally shaped somatic embryos without regeneration capacity. The structural organization of morphologically well-developed cotyledonary somatic embryos was similar to that of zygotic embryos. In abnormal somatic embryos the shoot apical meristem and root meristem were very damaged. Electrophoretic separation of denatured proteins using SDS-PAGE showed differences in the accumulation of low molecular weight storage proteins in somatic embryos. Storage protein accumulation was dependent on the concentration of PEG-4000 and the carbohydrate source.