Abstract
The Atlantic Forest has a rich biological diversity and elevated levels of endemism in which bromeliads are frequent, but endangered. Tissue culture techniques raise high hopes for the rescue, mass propagation for commercial aims or the conservation of natural populations threatened with extinction. The present study evaluated aspects of seed-based D. distachya micropropagation. A high rate of in vitro regeneration (78.93 shoot gram -1 ) was obtained in response to liquid MS culture medium supplemented with Benzylaminopurine 2 mM after 120 days in culture, or supplemented with Naphthaleneacetic acid 2 mM, BA 4 mM and Paclobutrazol 6 mM (133.58 shoots explant -1) after 142 days in culture. Not less than 1.5 cm long shoots were successfully acclimatized to ex vitro conditions. D. distachya is responsive to the application of tissue culture techniques for mass propagation and conservation purposes. The use of seeds as initial explants allows the maintenance of the genetic diversity observed in the natural populations and mass regeneration is a promising technique for the conservation of this endangered bromeliad.
Highlights
The Atlantic Forest is a biome of high biological diversity showing elevated levels of endemism (Myers et al 2000)
The devastation of the Atlantic Forest, hydroelectric plant constructions and expressive endemism have restricted the Dyckia distachya bromeliads to a few subsisting along the rocky banks of the Uruguay
The present study investigated inductive conditions for the in vitro morphogenesis of Dyckia distachya aiming at the conservation and mass propagation of this endangered Brazilian bromeliad
Summary
The Atlantic Forest is a biome of high biological diversity showing elevated levels of endemism (Myers et al 2000). The destruction of this biome and its associated ecosystems caused an impressive reduction of its biodiversity. River in the west of Santa Catarina and the south of Paraná state and in restricted areas of Paraguay and Argentina. This species is similar to D. brevifolia from which it differs mainly in the number of leaves, the more appealing rosette and the robust and ramified inflorescence (Strehl 1994). Tissue culture-based techniques are up-and-coming to overcome these constraints
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