In order to investigate rapid and direct shoot regeneration, various explants of sugar beet were statistically tested. In the study, shoot tip, hypocotyl, cotyledon petiole, leaf petiole, leaves of seed- grown seedling and leaves of tissue cultured — shoot tip explants were used. Shoot tip explants of 10-day old seedlings produced 66% shoot in the medium containing 2 mg/l Benzyl Adenin (BA), 0.5 mg/i Naphtalen Acetic Acid (NAA) and 0.5mg/l Tri Ido Benzoic Acid (TIBA). A high rate (55%) of shoot regeneration was obtained from leaf petioles of 25-day old seedlings in the medium containing 1 mg/i BA and 1 mg/l NAA. In addition, leaves originated from tissue cultured shoot tips regenerated 42 shoots in total in the medium containing lmg/l BA and 1mg/I NAA. No shoot was regenerated from hypocotyl, cotyledon petiole and seed — grown seedling leaves in the examined hormonal treatments with BA, NAA, TIBA and a combination of these hormones. The results suggest that shoot tips, leaf petioles and leaves of tissue cultured — shoot tips in the media containing appropriate concentrations of BA, NAA and TIBA can be used for direct shoot regeneration with a frequency sufficient for fulfilling an important requirement for gene transformation in sugar beet.
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