The creation of an in vitro gemplasm collection of yam (Dioscorea spp.) for genetic resources preservation

Abstract

A genetic resources preservation program led to an in vitro germplasm collection of yam (Dioscorea spp.), obtained by nodal cutting and maintained under slow growth conditions with ((Knop, 1865) in George & Sherrington, 1984) modified medium. The collection comprises accessions of 14 species from Africa and Asia, including edible varieties from the humid intertropical areas, viz 10 wild species (D. abyssinica, D. bulbifera, D. burkilliana, D. dumetorum, D. hirtiflora, D. mangenotiana, D. minutiflora, D. praehensilis, D. schimperana, D. togoensis), 5 edible ‘species’ (D. alata, D. bulbifera, D. cayenensis-D. rotundata complex, D. dumetorum and D. esculenta) and 1 interspecific hybrid (D. cayenensis-D. rotundata complex, cv. Krengle x D. praehensilis). Three factors that may influence the success in transfer from the in vivo to the in vitro conditions have been studied. These are: the type of introducted material (nodal cutting fragments, seeds and exchanged microplants), the introduction date and the genotype. Some significant differences in success were due to the type of introduced material, whereas the introduction date had no effect. On the other hand, some species showed a greater success in the transfer from the in vivo to the in vitro conditions than others. The three tuberization types (basal tuberization, aerial tuberization and ‘boulage’ (tuberization without vegetative development) phenomena), according to species, are discussed.