Innovation in Propagation of Fruit, Vegetable and Ornamental Plants

Sergio Ruffo Roberto,Ronan Carlos Colombo

doi:10.3390/horticulturae6020023

Sergio Ruffo Roberto, Ronan Carlos Colombo

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6020023

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Abstract

There are two primary forms of plant propagation: sexual and asexual. In nature, propagation of plants most often involves sexual reproduction, and this form is still used in several species. Over the years, horticulturists have developed asexual propagation methods that use vegetative plant parts. Innovation in plant propagation has supported breeding programs and allowed the production of high-quality nursery plants with the same genetic characteristics of the mother plant, and free of diseases or pests. The purpose of this Special Issue, “Innovation in Propagation of Fruit, Vegetable and Ornamental Plants”, was to present state-of-the-art techniques recently developed by researchers worldwide. The Special Issue has brought together some of the latest research results of new techniques in plant propagation in nine original papers, which deal with a wide range of research activities.

Highlights

In horticulture, plant propagation plays an important role as the number of plants can be rapidly multiplied retaining desirable characteristics of the mother plants, as well as reducing the bearing age of the plants
In cultivated almond (Prunus dulcis), non-infectious bud-failure (NBF) is a commercially important age-related disorder that results in the failure of new vegetative buds to grow in the spring
Most of the published protocols have been poorly described, in particular concerning the difficult stage of acclimatization, so it is necessary to develop an efficient procedure for micropropagation and subsequent acclimatization of this species under in vitro culture conditions

Summary

Introduction

Plant propagation plays an important role as the number of plants can be rapidly multiplied retaining desirable characteristics of the mother plants, as well as reducing the bearing age of the plants. Commercial propagation utilizes axillary shoot buds through traditional budding or grafting To solve this issue, one possibility is to examine NBF development using basal epicormic buds from individual trees of advanced age as an alternative source of foundation stock. In view of the drastic reduction in the number of individual varieties and the consequent loss of dragon tree genetic diversity caused by absence of natural regeneration, micropropagation offers many advantages because it potentially can facilitate large-scale production of valuable clones and allow plant reintroduction in its natural ecosystem [5,6,7,8,9]. Most of the published protocols have been poorly described, in particular concerning the difficult stage of acclimatization, so it is necessary to develop an efficient procedure for micropropagation and subsequent acclimatization of this species under in vitro culture conditions

Papers in This Special Issue

Fruit Crops

Vegetable Crops

Ornalmental and Medicinal Crops

Findings

Conclusions