Abstract
The availability of a rapid vegetative amplification procedure of mass-selected superior trees greatly accelerates the development of a new tree species as a crop. This study outlined the protocol for in vitro propagation of marula nodal explants from marula seedlings. Surface sterilized explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog media (MS) supplemented with 26 combinations of N6-benzyladenine (BA) and kinetin (KN). Shoots were elongated on MS media supplemented with low BA and KN or BA and Gibberellin A3 (GA3) concentrations. Elongated shoots were rooted on half strength MS media supplemented with indolebutyric acid (IBA) at differing concentrations. MS media supplemented with 4.8 μM BA and 2.4 μM KN resulted in average 2.5 shoots per responding explant. Moderate shoot elongation was achieved on MS media supplemented with 1.2 μM BA plus 1.0 μM KN. Maximum rooting was observed on half- strength MS media supplemented with 10 μM IBA. Marula plants were acclimatized and established in soil in the growth room at an average micropropagation rate of 0.56 per responding nodal explant. The developed protocol has potential for routine micropropagation of elite Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra.Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis scoring 1845 markers showed intraclonal genetic stability between explant parent and micropropagated plants. Key words: Anacardiaceae, axillary bud proliferation, marula, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), somaclonal variation
Highlights
The marula tree, Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra, is an indigenous, drought tolerant multipurpose tree of the Anacardiaceae and is widely distributed in Africa (PalmerAbbreviations: activated charcoal (AC), Activated charcoal; AFLP, amplified fragment length polymorphism; BA, N6-benzyladenine; GA3, Gibberellin A3; indolebutyric acid (IBA), indole-3-butyric acid; KN, kinetin; MS, Murashige and Skoog, PVP; polyvinylpyrrolidone; Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), randomly amplified polymorphic DNA; ZN, zeatin; Plant growth regulator (PGR), plant growth regulator.and Pitman, 1973; Mbuya et al, 1994; Simute et al, 1998)
Surface sterilization of nodal explants grown in the growth room routinely resulted in 80% aseptic culture establishment
Immersion for 2 minutes in 70% ethanol followed by 20 min in 30% bleach supplemented with 0.1% (v:v) Tween 20 was sufficient to decontaminate field-grown adult tree material harvested at the end of the rainy season
Summary
The marula tree, Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra, is an indigenous, drought tolerant multipurpose tree of the Anacardiaceae and is widely distributed in Africa (Palmerand Pitman, 1973; Mbuya et al, 1994; Simute et al, 1998). Caffra, is an indigenous, drought tolerant multipurpose tree of the Anacardiaceae and is widely distributed in Africa The marula tree has many indigenous uses as food, oil, dye, wood, timber and medicine. The tree is important to a variety of animals for shade, feed and shelter. The high nutritional value of the fruit in terms of vitamin C (0.68 mg/g) and protein content (60%) presents a good source of nutrients and vitamins for people and animals (Venter and Venter, 1996). The high quality stable oil, about 56% of the nut, offers additional exploitation opportunities (Shone, 1979). In view of the novel flavor of the fruit, the highly stable oil, the derivation of many commercial products and the potential for rural job creation, S. birrea subsp.
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