Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) is one of important forage crop grass widely cultivated in Korea. Progress in breeding using conventional selection procedure is very slow, since Italian ryegrass is highly self-infertile. Biotechnological approaches, therefore, may contribute to the development of improved cultivars for forage crops. In an effort to optimize tissue culture responses of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) for future genetic manipulations to improve forage characteristics, the effects of culture medium supplements on tissue culture responses were investigated with mature seeds of Korean Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) seven cultivars as explant tissues.

• Ki-Won Lee(Grassland & Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, (RDA).)
• Ki-Yong Kim(Grassland & Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, (RDA).)
• Hee Chung Ji(Grassland & Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, (RDA).)
• Sei Hyung Yoon(Grassland & Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, (RDA).)
• Gi Jun Choi(Grassland & Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, (RDA).)
• Sang-Hoon Lee(Grassland & Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, (RDA).) Corresponding author