MICROPROPAGATION OF DATE PALM VAR. MEDJOOL BY ADVENTITIOUS SHOOT INDUCTION

This study was conducted to determine the best combination of plant growth regulators to stimulate the emergence of adventitious buds directly from shoot tips of date palm variety Medjool. The results showed that MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L TDZ, 1 mg/L BA in the presence of 1 mg/L of NAA was the best for bud formation from shoot tip after 14 weeks (4.40 bud per explant). Subculturing the formed buds on multiplication medium supplemented with 3.0 mg/L TDZ, 2.0 mg/L BA gave the optimum average of buds number (6.20 buds). In elongation stage, MS medium with 3.0 mg/L GA3 gave the optimum average of shoot length of 6.78 cm. The average root number after 8 weeks was 5.60 at the concentration of 1.50 mg/L NAA. An additional objective of this study was to investigate the effect of cytokinins especially thidiazuron on induction of direct shoot organs of date palm vars Medjool from shoot tip.

Automated summary

The study demonstrated that the best combination of plant growth regulators could effectively stimulate the formation of adventitious buds directly from shoot tips of date palm variety Medjool, with different regulators promoting growth and development at various stages.