Micropropagation and pathogen elimination in elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.)

Abstract

To date, more than 75% of Austrian elderberry acreage is planted with cultivar ‘Haschberg’. This leads to high costs during harvest, since most of the berries have to be harvested at the same time and need to be frozen within hours after picking. In order to improve the spectrum of elderberry cultivars micropropagation of five elderberry cultivars was optimized. To meet the requirement for certified planting material, thermotherapy and chemotherapy (ribavirin), followed by meristem tip culture, were succesfully applied to eliminate various plant pathogens from elderberry plants. Virus detection was carried out by RT-PCR and confirmed by electron microscopy. An efficient protocol was developed using the cytokinins, BA for multiplication and meta-Topolin for shoot elongation and rooting of Sambucus nigra L. plants. Two commercial arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculants were evaluated for their potential to improve the process of ex-vitro-acclimatization. Both inoculants significantly enhanced survival rates, shoot length and root colonization levels of elderberry plants. Pathogen free elderberry plants were produced via thermotherapy or chemotherapy followed by meristem culture. Culture media for micropropagation were optimized. Acclimatization of plants was significantly improved by artificial inoculation with AMF products.