Propagation of four rare cultivars of date palm ( phoenix dactylifera L.) by tissue culture tecniques .

Abstract

The Present study was conducted in the laboratory of plant tissue culture at the Palms and Dates Research Center, University of Basrah, to propagate some rare cultivars of date palm “ Phoenix dactylifera L.” grown in Basrah Governorate by tissue culture techniques. Apical and axillary buds and primordial leaves excised from 3-4 year-old healthy selected offshoots of cvs. , Khsab, Um Al-Dihin , Sheraify and Auwaidy were cultured on different MS nutrient media throughout the developmental steps of the meristematic explants. Media supplemented with 50 mg / l NAA and 3 mg/ l 2iP gave the highest percentage of primary callus inducement in all cultivars over the other treatments .Khsab cultivar gave the highest response in this respect as compared with the other cultivars .The combination treatment of 10 mg / l NAA and 3 mg/ l 2iP proved to be the best treatment for proliferation emberyogenic callus for all cultivars.The MS nutrient medium supplemented with 50 mg / l glutamine and 3 mg / l biotin gave the highest rate of embryogenic callus fresh weight for Um Al-Dihin cultivar. The use of 0.1 mg / l NAA and 5 mg /l 2iP in MS medium gave the highest percentage of somatic embryos formation from callus and also recorded the fastest appearance of embryos for all cultivars.Khsab and Um Al-Dihin cultivars differed significantly than Auwaidy and Sheraify cultivars in the period required for the appearance of somatic embryos . Um Al-Dihin cultivar recorded a significant increase in the number of somatic embryos while Auwaidy cultivar had the lowest number of embryos. The combination treatment of 0.1 mg / l NAA and 1 mg/ l 2iP recorded the highest rate of embryos germination for all cultivars .Increasing sucrose concentration from 30 to 45 gm/l in MS half strength media enhanced the germination of most embryos in Khsab cultivar.