Abstract
The coconut palm or “tree of life” is one of nature’s most useful plants and the demand for its fruit is increasing. However, coconut production is threatened by ageing plantations, pests and diseases. Currently, the palm is exclusively propagated via seeds, limiting the amount of planting material. A novel micropropagation method is presented, based on axillary shoot formation. Apical meristems of in vitro coconut seedlings are cultured onto Y3 medium containing 1 µM TDZ. This induces the apical meristem to proliferate through axillary shoots in ~ 27% of the initiated explants. These axillary shoots are seen as white clumps of proliferating tissue and can be multiplied at a large scale or regenerated into rooted in vitro plantlets. This innovative micropropagation method will enable the production of disease-free, high quality in vitro plantlets, which will solve the worldwide scarcity of coconut planting material.
Highlights
The coconut palm or “tree of life” is one of nature’s most useful plants and the demand for its fruit is increasing
Forty-five days after initiation, 36 of the 141 (25.5%) explants that were subjected to the “cut protocol” combined with culture on 1TDZ, proliferated by exhibiting a white enlarged meristematic zone with many multiplying meristems arising from the former center of the plantlet (Fig. 1)
The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) picture shows the formation of new meristems at the base of older meristems in a structured pattern (Fig. 2), pointing at the axillary origin of the side meristems
Summary
The coconut palm or “tree of life” is one of nature’s most useful plants and the demand for its fruit is increasing. These axillary shoots are seen as white clumps of proliferating tissue and can be multiplied at a large scale or regenerated into rooted in vitro plantlets This innovative micropropagation method will enable the production of disease-free, high quality in vitro plantlets, which will solve the worldwide scarcity of coconut planting material. Partially due to globalization, deadly diseases such as Lethal yellowing or Cadang-Cadang[8,9] and pests such as the red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) and rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros L.)[10], have spread over multiple continents Both challenges combined with a global increased consumption of coconut products cause a greater demand of high quality disease-free and -resistant plant material. Such alternatives fall into two main groups: multiplication by inducing adventitious meristems or by inducing axillary
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