In vitro propagation of cactus (Cereus peruvianus L.) [electronic resource].

Includes references.

The effect of various treatments on the behaviour of in vitro consecutive micropropagation stages of cactus was studied. The statistical analysis of data revealed that for shootlet proliferation stage; recycling the in vitro culture of shootlets for six times at monthly intervals on MS medium amended with BAP at 5 mg/l plus NAA at 0.1 mg/l concentration significantly augmented the shootlet proliferation rates to 5.12-fold higher than on MS-free of hormons medium. Moreover, the highest amounts of chlorophyll-a &-b and carotenoids were detected in shootlet tissues grown on MS-medium provid with either NAA at 0.1 mg/l plus BAP at 3, 4 or 5 mg/l or NAA at 0.2 mg/l plus BAP at 3 mg/l concentration. For rooting stage, using full, half or quarter strength of MS medium with or without 1 g/l activated charcoal (AC) gave the highest rooting rates (100%) and longest root length, while applying full MS medium without AC resulted in the greatest root number formed per shootlet. For acclimatization stage; culturing the obtained vitroplants on either peat moss alone, sand alone or a mixture of peat moss and sand at the rate of 1:1 gave the highest survival capacity (100%); but using peat moss alone allowed the stem of the acclimatized vitroplant to grow up to the highest tall. In conclusions, it is benefitable to use successfully the in vitro culture techniques for mass micropropagation Cereus peruvianus.

Summary in Arabic.

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