Silver nitrate enhances in vitro development and quality of shoots of Anthurium andraeanum

During the in vitro cultures of Anthurium, some disorders such as excessive stem elongation and reduced leaf area have been observed. In this study, the hypothesis that such disorders can be attributed to the accumulation of ethylene in an in vitro culture environment was tested using AgNO3, an inhibitor of ethylene action. Different concentrations of AgNO(3 )were added to the culture medium on the multiplication stage of two cultivars of Anthurium andraeanum. The Murashige and Skoog (MS) culture medium with half of the concentration of macronutrients (MS1/2) and containing 30 g L-1 sucrose, 0.1 g L-1 myo-inositol, 1.5 g L(-1 )of activated charcoal, and 0.5 mg L-1 of kinetin was used for the multiplication stage of A. andraeanum. The genotype was found to be an important factor affecting shoot regeneration from leaf segments. The addition of AgNO3 in the culture medium suppressed excessive stem elongation and increased the leaf expansion in both A. andraeanum cv. Alabama and Dakota. The concentrations of 1.0 or 2.0 mg L-1 of AgNO3 were the most optimum to increase the quality of shoots obtained in the multiplication stage and to accelerate the rooting stage.