Adventitious regeneration from mature seed-derived tissues of Prunus cerasifera and Prunus insititia

Abstract

An essential preliminary step in the application of genetic engineering is the development of robust and effective procedures of adventitious regeneration. We have developed an efficient regeneration procedure from mature seeds hypocotyl sections and cotyledons of Prunus rootstocks: Four genotypes of Prunus cerasifera (‘Adara’, ‘Ademir’, ‘Myrobolan B’ and ‘Myrobalan 29C’) and one genotype of Prunus insititia (‘Pixi’). A pulse of 9.05 μM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) significantly stimulated adventitious organogenesis from both sort of explants. However, the 2,4-D treatment effect relied on the genotype and the type of explant. Best regeneration rates achieved from hypocotyl sections were 16.28%, 31.25%, 13.79%, 46.86% and 53.03% for ‘Ademir’, ‘Adara’, ‘Myrobalan B’, ‘Myrobalan 29C’ and ‘Pixi’, respectively. Best regeneration rates achieved from cotyledons were 60.00%, 51.61%, 42.86%, 75.00%, 90.48% for ‘Ademir’, ‘Adara’, ‘Myrobalan B’, ‘Myrobalan 29C’ and ‘Pixi’, respectively. Rooting and acclimatization steps were successfully achieved. The whole process, from initial culture to established plants in the greenhouse, took approximately 15 weeks.