Abstract: The present study aimed to find out suitable conditions for the in vitro culture of Salicornia europaea L. and to develop an efficient regeneration system. S. europaea plants were regenerated successfully in vitro from callus derived from mature embryos. Via the method of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)-short-treatment on mature seeds, callus was induced from hypocotyls on the MS medium with 4.55 µmol/L N-phenyl-N''-1, 2, 3-thiadiazol-5-yl urea (TDZ) 3–4 weeks after the seeds germinated. The callus differentiated into shoots at a rate of 27.6% after subculture for one time on the same medium. When NaCl was included in the medium, shoots were formed in cluster and the shoot differentiation frequency was increased to 55.2%. The shoots were rooted when cultured on 1/2 MS medium supplemented with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), kinetin (KN) and activated charcoal (AC). The results indicated that NaCl and TDZ played an important role in the improvement of the regeneration rate of the halophyte, S. europaea.（Author for correspondence. Tel: +86 (0)10 6283 6258; Fax: +86 (0)10 8259 6139; E-mail:yxli@ibcas.ac.cn）

Key words: 2,4-D-short-treatment, differentiation, halophyte, NaCl, Salicornia europaea, TDZ.