Plantlet production from shoot tip cultures of red sandalwood ( Pterocarpus santalinus L.)

Red sandalwood (Pterocarpus santalinus L.), belonging to the family Fabaceae, is one of the most valuable trees, and has limited distribution in India. In view of its high price, restricted distribution and usefulness as a timber tree, there is urgent need to obtain improved lines, in both quality and quantity. We have established a method for production of complete plantlets by tissue culture. We report here the successful development of red sandalwood plantlets by induction of multiple shoots from shoot tips, and successful transfer of micropropagated plants to soil.

EFFECT OF BAP, NAA AND GA3, EITHER ALONE OR IN COMBINATION, ON MERISTEM CULTURE AND PLANTLET ESTABLISHMENT IN SWEET POTATO (CV BRONDAL)

In Zimbabwe, the average sweet potato yield (6 t/ha) is relatively low when compared to Asian counterparts (17 t/ha). These low crop yields have been blamed on weevil infestations and viral infections which account for 60-90% of sweet potato yield losses in Africa. Meristem tip culture, a Centre for Potato Improvement (CIP) initiated tissue culture technique, has been widely used to eradicate viruses from clonally propagated crops and has been noted to be one of the instrumental techniques that helped China to increase sweet potato yields. In an effort to adopt the meristem tip culture technique for the production of virus-free planting material of a local sweet potato (cv Brondal), a study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Benzylamino purine (BAP), 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and Gibberellic acid (GA3) (either alone or in combination) on cultured Brondal meristems. The different hormonal treatments were assessed on the following parameters: plantlet regenerative capacity, multiple plantlet production, shoot height, average leaf number per shoot and average node number per shoot, ten weeks after meristem culture. All treatments containing a combination of BAP (1 mg-L) and GA3 (at either 5 mg-L, 10 mg-L, or 20 mg-L) had a significantly (p<0.01) higher plantlet regenerative capacity of 33-66% when compared to other treatment combinations. Only treatments, 10 mg-L GA3 + 1 mg-L BAP and 20 mg-L GA3 + 1 mg-L BAP were capable of inducing multiple plantlet formation, producing an average of three plantlets/meristem and two plantlets/meristem respectively. Overall, treatment 10 mg-L GA3 + 1 mg-L BAP gave rise to significantly (p<0.01) taller shoots (20 mm) compared to the rest of the treatments used. For average leaf number per shoot, all GA3 treatments (5 mg-L, 10 mg-L, or 20 mg-L) supplemented with 1 mg-L BAP gave significantly (p<0.01) higher numbers of leaves (six leaves/shoot) than the rest of the treatments. Treatments 10 mg-L GA3 + 1 mg-L BAP and 20 mg-L GA3 + 1 mg-L BAP gave rise to the highest number of nodes per shoot, producing an average of three nodes per shoot. In sharp contrast to treatments containing a combination of BAP and GA3, all treatments containing a combination of BAP and NAA performed poorly in all parameters tested for plant regeneration of Brondal sweet potato variety. In conclusion, the best hormonal treatment for culturing Brondal meristems proved to be 10 mg-L GA3 + 1 mg-L BAP.

Morphogenesis and plant regeneration from cotyledonary cultures of Eucalyptus

Callus cultures were established from hypocotyls and cotyledons derived from young seedlings of Eucalyptus citriodora. Successful plantlet production from cotyledonary callus was achieved within 6 weeks on Murashige and Skoog's basal medium supplemented with zeatin (1 mg/l) and indoleacetic acid (0.2 mg/l). Leaf and shoot callus obtained from one-year-old plants did not differentiate. Results reported contribute to defining optimal conditions for callus growth and plantlet formation

Enraizamento de estacas de Caesalpinia echinata Lam. em hidroponia

This study aimed to determine the indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) requirement and proper concentration for Caesalpinia echinata rooting in a hydroponic system for plantlet production. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse of the 'Faculdade de Ciencias Agrarias e Veterinarias', UNESP, in Jaboticabal, São Paulo state. The vegetal material consisted of 160 stem cuttings that were 11 to 12 cm in length with two pairs of leaves, prepared from young seedlings. The cutting bases were treated by slow immersion in 5% ethanol solution containing 0, 100, 200 and 400 mg L-1 of IBA during 14 hours and by fast immersion in 50% ethanol solution containing 0, 1000, 3000 and 5000 mg L-1 of IBA during 5 seconds. The cuttings were maintained in the hydroponic system for 90 days and, for additional 90 days in plastic bags containing substrate (Plantmax (R)) under intermittent mist. After 90 and 180 days of rooting, the percentage of cuttings that survived, the rooting percentage and the number and length of adventious root were evaluated. Cuttings should be treated with IBA at 100 mg L-1 for 14 hours and placed to root in a hydroponic system.

Potencial de inibição da regeneração de raízes e plântulas em sementes germinantes de Eugenia pyriformis

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o potencial de inibição da formação de raízes e plântulas, em sementes germinantes de uvaieira (Eugenia pyriformis), fragmentadas e fissuradas. As sementes foram separadas por tamanho em dois grupos. Cada grupo foi separado em dois subgrupos, um dos quais foi submetido a teste de germinação. As sementes de cada subgrupo foram submetidas a dois tipos de incisão (total ou parcial) e, em seguida, foram avaliadas quanto à produção de raízes e plântulas. em sementes com incisão parcial, que apresentavam apenas uma plântula desenvolvida, completou-se a incisão até que as metades fossem separadas. A metade com a raiz foi descartada, e sua complementar foi colocada para germinar, para avaliação da produção de raízes e plântulas nessas frações sem raízes. em todos os experimentos, utilizou-se o delineamento inteiramente casualizado, em arranjo fatorial 2x2 (tamanho das sementes x germinação visível) e 2x4 (tamanho das sementes x tipo de incisão). As sementes fracionadas de uvaieira apresentam potencial para regeneração de raízes e plântulas, e podem produzir mais de uma muda por semente. A germinação inicia processos de inibição da regeneração de novas raízes e plântulas na semente, e a incisão dos cotilédones pode bloquear essa inibição.

Influência do substrato e do tipo de fertilizante na aclimatação de mudas de bananeira 'Prata-Anã'

Objetivando-se avaliar a influência do substrato e tipo de fertilizante na aclimatação de mudas de bananeira 'Prata-Anã', provenientes de micropropagação, foi instalado um experimento em blocos casualizados, no esquema fatorial 5 x 3, com quatro repetições. Os substratos utilizados foram: S1 - Terra de subsolo + casca de arroz carbonizada + substrato comercial Rendimax Floreira®; S2 - Terra de subsolo + casca de arroz carbonizada + composto orgânico Organifol®; S3 - Terra de subsolo + casca de arroz carbonizada + composto orgânico Organifol® 9% SiO; S4 - substrato comercial Technes Vivatto®; S5 - Areia grossa + casca de arroz carbonizada + Rendimax Floreira®, todos na proporção 1:1:1 (v/v/v). Os fertilizantes utilizados foram: SF - sem fertilizante; FLL - fertilizante de liberação lenta, 14-14-14 (5,0 kg m-3) misturado ao substrato; e FLN - fertilizante de liberação normal, 14-14-14 (5,0 kg m-3) aplicado em cobertura, 30 dias após o plantio. As mudas foram plantadas em sacos de polietileno quando apresentavam quatro a cinco folhas, sendo mantidas em viveiro com 50% de sombreamento. Foram feitas medidas de altura, diâmetro do colo e número de folhas, e determinada a massa seca das mudas. As diferenças químicas das misturas utilizadas como substrato, juntamente com o tipo de fertilizante utilizado, proporcionaram crescimento diferenciado das mudas. O substrato S4 pode ser utilizado sem fertilização. Os substratos S2 e S3 devem ser utilizados com fertilizante de liberação normal ou lenta de nutrientes, e S1 e S5, sendo pobres em nutrientes, com fertilizante de liberação lenta.

Production of yacon plantlet (Polymnia sonchifolia poep. et endl.) in different organic fertilization

The work was carried out in nursery of the Agronomical Science College (ASC) UNESP-Botucatu, in period from September 21(st) to October 31(st) 2000. The propagation material (rhizophores) was obtained from plants, which were cultivated in the area of ASC. The rhizophores were selected according to their vigor and size. Healthy rhizophores were chosen between 15 and 25 g, which were treated with benomil (0,6%, 10 minutes). As a basic commercial substratum Solomix((R)) was used with mixing cattle manure and chicken manure in the following proportions: T1- pure substratum; T2 - substratum + cattle manure (1:1), T3- substratum + cattle manure (2:1); T4- substratum + chicken manure (4:1). The yacon rhizophores presented good shoots in all substrata with exception of T4. For all parameters no significant difference between the pure commercial substratum and its mixture with cattle manure were observed; however, the addition the chicken manure in the studied proportions revealed harmful effect on the survival and development of the plantlets. The results indicated, that the viability of smaller size rhizophores was higher as the size conventionally used in Brazil (60 to 80 g).