In vitro establishment and proliferation of red currant cultivars

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate in vitro multiplication protocols for use with red currant cultivars grown in the Czech Republic. Cultivars Detvan, Vitan and Rotte Höllandische were successfully established in vitro using mercuric chloride in a concentration of 0.15% as a sterilization solution. The overall rate of contamination was 25.7%. Two proliferation media Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) and McCown woody plant medium (WPM) containing 1 or 2 mg/l of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) were tested. Initial explants produced new plants in the form of rosettes. Rosettes arose from the base of the initial explants in the form of adventitious bud formation. The shoot number was relatively low and varied between 1.0 and 2.1. Generally, the highest number was obtained for cultivar Rotte Holländische that produced 2.1 ± 0.1 new rosettes on MS medium containing lower concentration 1 mg/l BAP. In contrary, Vitan cv. had significantly lower shoot number ranging from 1.0 to 1.3. WPM medium with a lower concentration of mineral salts proved to be unsuitable for the multiplication of tested cultivars.