Research Article Determination of Suitable Microspore Stage and Callus Induction from Anthers of Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) Ahmed Mahmood Ibrahim, Fatimah Binti Kayat, Zeti Ermiena Surya Mat Hussin, Dwi Susanto, and Mohammed Ariffulah Faculty of Base Industry (FIAT), Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli campus, Locked Bag 100, 17600 Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia Correspondence should be addressed to Ahmed Mahmood Ibrahim; a ibrahim1965@yahoo.com Received 1 December 2013; Accepted 23 January 2014; Published 13 March 2014 Academic Editors: J. E. Barboza-Corona and N. K. Tripathi Copyright © 2014 Ahmed Mahmood Ibrahim et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is one of the important species of Hibiscus cultivated for fber. Availability of homozygous parent lines is prerequisite to the use of the heterosis efect reproducible in hybrid breeding. Te production of haploid plants by anther culture followed by chromosome doubling can be achieved in short period compared with inbred lines by conventional method that requires self pollination of parent material. In this research, the efects of the microspore developmental stage, time of fower collection, various pretreatments, diferent combinations of hormones, and culture condition on anther culture of KB6 variety of Kenaf were studied. Young fower buds with immature anthers at the appropriate stage of microspore development were sterilized and the anthers were carefully dissected from the fower buds and subjected to various pretreatments and diferent combinations of hormones like NAA, 2,4-D, Kinetin, BAP, and TDZ to induce callus. Te best microspore development stage of the fower buds was about 6–8 mm long collected 1-2 weeks afer fower initiation. At that stage, the microspores were at the uninucleate stage which was suitable for culture. Te best callus induction frequency was 90% in the optimized semisolid MS medium fortifed with 3.0 mg/L BAP + 3.0 mg/L NAA. 1. Introduction Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) belongs to the Malvaceae family and section Furcaria. It is closely related to cotton, okra, hollyhock, and roselle. Nowadays, it has been cultivated in 20 countries worldwide and its total production (kenaf and allied crops) is 352,000 tons (2010/2011). Kenaf is an annual fber crop cultivated for numerous uses (paper pulp, fabrics, textile, building materials, biocomposites, bedding material, oil absorbents, etc.) [1]. In Malaysia, this plant is considered new and cultivated to replace tobacco plantation that has been no longer supported by the government [2]. Kenaf grows quickly and will achieve 5 to 6 m in height and 2.5 to 3.5cm in diameter within 5 to 6 months. Kenaf has a unique combination of long bast and short core fbers which makes it suitable for a range of paper and cardboard products. Fify-fve percent of dried kenaf stalks are used to make paper. Waste products from the process can be made into fertilizer and feed binder. When kenaf is grown in home gardens for fber, the more tender upper leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten either raw or cooked [3]. Alternative uses, the top leafy portion of the kenaf plant is not useful for pulping. Terefore, this part of the plant would be useful as forage if harvest equipment could be practically adapted to a dual collection operation. One of the most popular methods for production of haploids is through anther and microspore culture on the artifcial culture medium. Haploids are plants (sporophytes) that contain a gametic chromosome number (n) as in the egg and pollen cell. Each pollen mother cell (PMC) in the anther produces 4 microspore or pollen grains. Tus, anther with microspore or isolated pollen grains can be cultured on artifcial medium to raise haploid plant. Haploid production through anther culture has been referred to as androgenesis [4]. Te frst time haploid plants were discovered in Datura stramonium by A.D Bergner in 1921. Afer the initial reports of successful production of haploids from anther culture in Datura [5], haploids have been obtained in more than Hindawi Publishing Corporation e Scientific World Journal Volume 2014, Article ID 284342, 5 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/284342