Abstract: The cotyledon and hypocotyl of Linum usitatissimum L. ‘Fany’ as explants were respectively inoculated on MB medium (mineral salt of MS with vitamin of B₅) with different combinations of plant growth regulators. Callus was induced from all the media. However, embryogenic callus were only obtained on the media with 0.5-4.0 mg·L^-1 2,4-D. The 2,4-D concentration needed for embryogenic callus and embryogenesis derived from hypocotyl were both lower than that from cotyledon. The effect of supplementing with 2,4-D only in medium was obviously better than the combinations of any other plant growth regulators in the induction of embryos. The induction number of somatic embryos derived from cotyledon and hypocotyl was 224/g and 265/g, respectively. The histology observation revealed that there were a large number of normal globular embryos, heart-stage embryos, torpedo-stage embryos, a few cotyledon-stage embryos as well as a few abnormal embryos. These results will be a foundation for somatic hybridization between ‘Fany’ and other flax, screening mutant clone of ‘Fany’ as well as relative research on plant gene and cell engineering.

Key words: Linum usitatissimum L. &lsquo, Fany&rsquo, embryogenic callus, embryos, histology