In vitro Regeneration of Avocado (Persea Americana) West Indian Rootstock cv.lula Via Tissue Culture

Abstract

Avocado (Persea AmericanaMill)isa subtropical fruitand ishighly recommended for itsnutritional value. Avocado is knownfor its sensitivityto biotic and a biotic stress.Oneway toovercome this problem is to grafton tolerance rootstocks thatare mainly obtained via seeds thataresubjected to genetic variation.Two different types of explants: axillary bud and shot tip meristemwereused in this study. Axillary buds gave the best results intermsof the maximum number of shoots when compared totheapical meristem in all treatments,regardless of the mediatype. The highest shoot induction in Woody Plant Medium(WP)was better than Murashigeand Skooge(MS) mediumregardless of the explant type. Explant responded better in BAP-containing medium than TDZ and KN. The maximum number of shoots obtained from axillary bud was 4 shoots/explant when cultured in WP medium supplemented with BAP (1.5mg/l). When apical meristems were used as explant, the best result obtained was 2.5 shoots/explant cultured in WP medium supplemented with BAP (1.5mg/l). For shoot length, axillary buds responded better than apical meristem when cultured in BAP containing medium regardless of medium type. The maximum shoot length (4.8cm) was obtained from axillarybud cultured in WP media supplemented with BAP (1.5mg/l). For rooting, 50% of explant formed root at IBA (1.0 mg/l) when cultured in WP medium. The best number of roots (3.2 roots/explant) was obtained in MS medium supplemented with IBA (1.0 mg/l).