Selecting sterilization conditions for the explants of different potato varieties to be in vitro introduced into the culture

Abstract

An explant is a fragment of plant tissue or organ that is incubated on its own or used to produce a primary callus. The introduction of any plant’s tissues into the culture in vitro begins with the selection of an uninfected viable explant. The authors presented the results of the effect of various sterilizing agents as well as the treatment timing on the viability of plant explants during microclonal propagation of potatoes of the following varieties: Aladin, Gala, Nevsky, Udacha and Kostanay Novosti. The meristem sprouts from potato tubers were used as parent material. The following commercial sterilizing agents were used: Bleach (Belizna), Tween 20, Lyzoformin 3000, 96 % ethyl alcohol. The influence of sterilizing agents as well as the timing of the treatment on the viability of explants and their contamination is analyzed. As a result of the experiments, it has been found that the most effective sterilizing agent is the 3 % bleach and 96 % ethyl alcohol with exposure duration of 10 minutes. Based on the results of the experiment, it is proposed to use the 3 % bleach with an exposure time of 10 minutes as the main sterilizing agent, and the 96 % ethyl alcohol as some pre-treatment of explants to reduce surface contamination. The authors believe that the 96 % ethyl alcohol is the best option for sterilizing solutions since it is a non-toxic, gentle method of sterilization with minimum damage of the plant material tissues.