In vitro regeneration of the isolated shoot apical meristem of two commercial fig cultivars ‘Sabz’ and ‘Jaami-e-Kan’

Abstract

Abstract Meristem-tip of two important Iranian fig (Ficus carica L.) cultivars (‘Jaami-e-Kan’ and ‘Sabz’) were cultured under in vitro conditions to optimize the best condition for their shoot proliferation, root induction, and subsequent plantlet regeneration. Effects of explant size, culture medium (MS and B5) and different levels of BA (6-benzyladenine) in combination with 0.1 mg l−1 NAA (naphthalene acetic acid) were analyzed in the establishment of meristem cultures. The survival percentages of meristems were recorded after five weeks. Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with different concentrations of BA (1, 1.5 and 2 mg l−1) and NAA (0, 0.1 and 0.5 mg l−1) was used for shoot regenerating. Half strength MS medium containing four concentrations of IBA (indole-3-butyric acid) was used for rooting. The regeneration and survival rate of cultures were significantly affected by different concentrations of BA, explant size and cultivars. The highest meristem survival was recorded from ‘Sabz’ cv., explants with the size of 0.5–0.7 mm, and culture media supplemented with 0.5 mg l−1 BA. The highest proliferation rate (2.4 shoots per micro shoot) was observed in the medium containing 2 mg l−1 BA, while the lowest length of shoots was obtained in this concentration. Furthermore, cv. ‘Sabz’ showed a higher proliferation rate (2.3 shoots per micro shoot) than cv. ‘Jaami-e-Kan’. The highest numbers of rooted micro-shoots were obtained from 1.5 mg l−1 IBA (88.3%) followed by 2 mg l−1 IBA (78.5%). Also, 2 mg l−1 IBA showed the maximum number of roots per micro shoot (14.6). These data show that the presence of plant growth regulators, besides meristem size, plays an important role in meristem culture and micropropagation of fig trees. Moreover, results of this investigation can be applied practically for true to type as well as virus free plantlets regeneration from these important Iranian fig cultivars in a short time.